Discussion on Cats, Moggies and Felines in general [with Pictures]

[love_the_life]

Not nice for the owner:
Melville council changes dead pets policy after beloved cat sent to landfill - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Denali]

Do you start feeding a random cat or not?

About a month ago, we noticed a little cat hanging around. It seems like like sleeping under our bottle brush tree/next to concrete (warm?)

We havent fed it or spoken to it but its been about a month now and its still around.

We do feed the birds that hang around with left over fruit, veggies, rice ect so maybe thats whats attracting it.

We've named it Creepy Cat because it wanders our yard at night, setting off the sensors but now its hanging around during the day as well.

Whats the protocol for this? Start talking to it and take it to the vet to see if it has a chip? Continue to ignore it?

 

[Pushka]

Maybe check if it's chipped first. Someone might be missing it. I'm a sucker for stray pets. It's how we inherited our Pushka.

 

[Denali]

We have no pets and hubby doesnt want one but I would be OK with it but I think the idea of vet bills scare him. A friend at work took her dog to a specialist vet at Homebush and it ended up costing the price of a small car.

 

[Cossie]

Not nice for the owner:
Melville council changes dead pets policy after beloved cat sent to landfill - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

I've taken several deceased moggies to the local vet after they had been hit, not by me. One was in an advanced state of decay, hundreds of people must have walked past it or driven past in the time it was there. We always have disposable cloves and plastic bags in the boot. The vet checks to see if there is a chip, it's the least I would hope for any of ours if they were killed on the road.

 

[Bazzi]

Do you start feeding a random cat or not?

About a month ago, we noticed a little cat hanging around. It seems like like sleeping under our bottle brush tree/next to concrete (warm?)

We havent fed it or spoken to it but its been about a month now and its still around.

'


If that happened at our place 'Creepy Cat' would be snuggled up by our fire right now, having just been fed with the rest of the motley crew, cause we have 'SUCKER' tattooed across our foreheads!

 

[donovan301]

Do you start feeding a random cat or not?

About a month ago, we noticed a little cat hanging around. It seems like like sleeping under our bottle brush tree/next to concrete (warm?)

We havent fed it or spoken to it but its been about a month now and its still around.

We do feed the birds that hang around with left over fruit, veggies, rice ect so maybe thats whats attracting it.

We've named it Creepy Cat because it wanders our yard at night, setting off the sensors but now its hanging around during the day as well.

Whats the protocol for this? Start talking to it and take it to the vet to see if it has a chip? Continue to ignore it?

Ok, so Cats don't mind being ignored, especialy if they don't currently need you or your services. ( And by services, I meant He/She will consideer you a Servnt !...as itshould be ;-)

Some years ago, a pure white stray used to stroll up my drive, glance over and carry on...
...About 3 or 4 months later with his attention to my existence slightly higher I put the occassional cat friendly snack out .

Sometimes he'd induge in the treat placed well awaay from my door.

After about 6months he wandered up to the front door and with his usual nonchalant attitude, sat in front of me, Waiting.

Still no chance of petting himm, but with slow non confronting movement, I prepped a quick snack and placed on the floor.
He happily ate and left....
...and came back the next day.

I was already his servant, just didn't know it yet.

He moved into my house on his own accord.
It was 6 more months before he let me lightly pat him, 3 or 4 more months we were best of friends.

We lived together for 5 1/2 years before he passed from Cancer....White cat, to much sun.

I found out later that he's been living Wild in my street for the previous 5 years, no one could get near him,...Ever.

Occassionally he'd get visits from cats I had seen once or twice, turned out they were his siblings.

His Name was Mister,
My Master, My Mate....

Damn, been a while since I've been through that thought process

Check him for chips,but only once he decides you will help him.

;-) ...and keep feeding the birds.

 

[whatmeworry]

Cats appearing for a feed remind of the Simpsons episode when their Cat Snowball II
(V) starts getting fat and they track her down, going to another home where she is renamed Smokey and taught tricks.

 

[Cossie]

Ok, so Cats don't mind being ignored, especialy if they don't currently need you or your services. ( And by services, I meant He/She will consideer you a Servnt !...as itshould be ;-)

Some years ago, a pure white stray used to stroll up my drive, glance over and carry on...
...About 3 or 4 months later with his attention to my existence slightly higher I put the occassional cat friendly snack out .

Sometimes he'd induge in the treat placed well awaay from my door.

After about 6months he wandered up to the front door and with his usual nonchalant attitude, sat in front of me, Waiting.

Still no chance of petting himm, but with slow non confronting movement, I prepped a quick snack and placed on the floor.
He happily ate and left....
...and came back the next day.

I was already his servant, just didn't know it yet.

He moved into my house on his own accord.
It was 6 more months before he let me lightly pat him, 3 or 4 more months we were best of friends.

We lived together for 5 1/2 years before he passed from Cancer....White cat, to much sun.

I found out later that he's been living Wild in my street for the previous 5 years, no one could get near him,...Ever.

Occassionally he'd get visits from cats I had seen once or twice, turned out they were his siblings.

His Name was Mister,
My Master, My Mate....

Damn, been a while since I've been through that thought process

Check him for chips,but only once he decides you will help him.

;-) ...and keep feeding the birds.

Very lucky cat to have you as his servant.

 

[coyote25]

My nephew and his fiancée Danelle have temporarily moved in while Danelle does a 6 month environmental contract work in Apollo Bay (coming back to the city on the weekend).

Anyway on her first full week in Apollo Bay she found a 7 week old kitten hiding in a car engine meowing an under fed. A vet check and diagnosis was the kitten had been abandoned. No chip, no one looking the kitten now name Indie (for Independent) won Danelle heart, someone who said she would never own a cat, only a dog.

Five weeks later and Indie is a surprise member of the family. She is initially was scared of everything now she runs the apartment. Still scared of strangers and shakes if you take her near the front door, she is a purring machine who makes us all laugh when she plays or chases her tail.

 

[donovan301]

Very lucky cat to have you as his servant.

A very Lucky Servant I was indeed.
Thankyou for the thought.

 

[Milboo]

Donovan - I think sometimes the strays choose us, sensing a kind heart and knowing it will be home.

We have had several strays become pets ever since I was a child - including one tiny kitten our German Shepherd came out of a bush carrying ever so gently in his mouth and depositing with my Mum. But we lived rural so were very clearly dumped and strays.

Denali - does it look like it is otherwise fed or cared for? The correct answer is you should take it to your vet to be scanned for a chip and for it then for the vet to move it across to your council's local pound. The issue is that the chip system is not perfect - chips fail, migrate or can't be read. Also there is no national chip system so someone could have moved from interstate with the cat, it's wandered off but its chip won't read here so the pound is the place where an owner might be looking for a lost cat.

But I am a sucker too. For a couple of years at my last place I actually had 2 ginger cats. My kitty would let a stray wander into the house and eat his food. I could not get near it for a very long time but eventually got to the stage I could touch it but it was still wary. I felt so awful when I moved house and he was left behind

 

[love_the_life]

Coyote, indie is so gorgeous. She looks like she has fallen on her feet to become so loved. Many happy years for her I hope.

 

[Cynicor]

Milboo- while the chips fail, the tattoo also helps one to know if they should look hard. 3 dots in a triangle, inside the ear, when they get chipped.

I'd keep the stray if it had no chip. Stray cats can be the most loving, having had to fend for themselves they seem to know the value of a roof and certain meals.

 

[Denali]

.....
Denali - does it look like it is otherwise fed or cared for? The correct answer is you should take it to your vet to be scanned for a chip and for it then for the vet to move it across to your council's local pound. The issue is that the chip system is not perfect - chips fail, migrate or can't be read. Also there is no national chip system so someone could have moved from interstate with the cat, it's wandered off but its chip won't read here so the pound is the place where an owner might be looking for a lost cat. ....

I wouldnt call it well fed but its not underfed, it still looks young. My husband tried to follow it yesterday but it went under our house so if he frightened it, it didnt seem to run "home". If we were to start feeding it, take it to the vet, I doubt we will let it go to the pound.

Threw out some steamed rice to feed the birds this morning, do cats eat rice?

 

[Cynicor]

A hungry cat will eat anything, but it's not good for it. They are carnivores, as opposed to dogs (omnivores) so they really need thiamine in their food as they can't extract/produce it from vegetables and grains.

 

[coriander]

The issue is that the chip system is not perfect - chips fail, migrate or can't be read. Also there is no national chip system so someone could have moved from interstate with the cat, it's wandered off but its chip won't read here so the pound is the place where an owner might be looking for a lost cat.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I've been implanting them since the 90s and can't recall a failure.

Microchips are breathtakingly reliable - failure rate is miniscule, with one exception. A few years ago, a small batch of Virbac microchips suffered a variation of silicon "infant" mortality: they scanned ok on implantation but then failed 6-12 months later. Virbac recompense us when we implant a replacement chip. If your animal has a microchip with a number starting with 9000, have your vet check it next time you're getting it examined. I've not seen any recall/advice about any other microchip. All microchips implanted since the earlier 00s are a standard ISO chip with a 15-digit number.

Chips migrate in the first 24 hours if they're not correctly implanted, or the animal wriggles or the owner goes home and spends time palpating his pet to find the chip. There is a standard protocol on scanning a pet that's laid down in (Victorian) law, so the chances of not finding a migrated chip are remote. I find the vast majority of chips between the shoulder blades with a few down on the shoulder (I guess the pet drops or twists on implantation as it's a large needle). In addition many animal shelters have "walk-through" scanners such as found at department store entries.

Finally, there IS a national chip system that has been in place for many years. Whilst there are numerous purveyors of chips, there are several microchip pet registers, all of whose databases are linked. Central Animal Records in Melbourne and Australian Animal Registry in Sydney are probably the two largest registries but information can be obtained easily by authorised persons either online or by a 1800 number. We never have any difficulty in obtaining an owner's phone number when a chipped stray pet is presented.

BUT, and it's a big BUT, in spite of that we often have no success in contacting the owner. Ringing the mchip number, we all too often hear "Optus/Telstra/Vodafone regrets the number you have called is not available......" - in other words, pet owners don't keep their microchip data up to date. In that case there is a protocol (registered mail to address on database) to try to re-unite pet with owner. If you move interstate, it's recommended that you update your details with your pet's registry, but in any case nowadays if your primary contact number is a mobile number and you haven't changed it, you'll be contacted if your lost pet is found. Our best reunion was a stray cat presented to us where the address was a Perth suburb (I'm in Melbourne). We rang the mobile number and a grateful and tearful young lady collected her cat within minutes - cat got out and they'd only moved the week before.

 

[Cynicor]

I was going to say in my last post on the food, "Coriander will know more/have more accurate info". I don't think I'm far off the mark with that one though.

 

[Milboo]

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I've been implanting them since the 90s and can't recall a failure.

Microchips are breathtakingly reliable - failure rate is miniscule, with one exception. A few years ago, a small batch of Virbac microchips suffered a variation of silicon "infant" mortality: they scanned ok on implantation but then failed 6-12 months later. Virbac recompense us when we implant a replacement chip. If your animal has a microchip with a number starting with 9000, have your vet check it next time you're getting it examined. I've not seen any recall/advice about any other microchip. All microchips implanted since the earlier 00s are a standard ISO chip with a 15-digit number.

Chips migrate in the first 24 hours if they're not correctly implanted, or the animal wriggles or the owner goes home and spends time palpating his pet to find the chip. There is a standard protocol on scanning a pet that's laid down in (Victorian) law, so the chances of not finding a migrated chip are remote. I find the vast majority of chips between the shoulder blades with a few down on the shoulder (I guess the pet drops or twists on implantation as it's a large needle). In addition many animal shelters have "walk-through" scanners such as found at department store entries.

Finally, there IS a national chip system that has been in place for many years. Whilst there are numerous purveyors of chips, there are several microchip pet registers, all of whose databases are linked. Central Animal Records in Melbourne and Australian Animal Registry in Sydney are probably the two largest registries but information can be obtained easily by authorised persons either online or by a 1800 number. We never have any difficulty in obtaining an owner's phone number when a chipped stray pet is presented.

BUT, and it's a big BUT, in spite of that we often have no success in contacting the owner. Ringing the mchip number, we all too often hear "Optus/Telstra/Vodafone regrets the number you have called is not available......" - in other words, pet owners don't keep their microchip data up to date. In that case there is a protocol (registered mail to address on database) to try to re-unite pet with owner. If you move interstate, it's recommended that you update your details with your pet's registry, but in any case nowadays if your primary contact number is a mobile number and you haven't changed it, you'll be contacted if your lost pet is found. Our best reunion was a stray cat presented to us where the address was a Perth suburb (I'm in Melbourne). We rang the mobile number and a grateful and tearful young lady collected her cat within minutes - cat got out and they'd only moved the week before.

I don't dispute any of the above from the vet side of things but from having been involved on the rescue side of things in the past - and admittedly in dogs but same chip system, there have been issues with pounds/ councils etc not contacting the registry. There was a case very recently which turned legal which involved that very issue. I have also known instances where it is said there is no chip but a more thorough search by someone more knowledgeable has yielded a reading.

I adopted my cat from Cats Protection, complete with paperwork etc but later found out that his chip did not actually match the paperwork!

 

[Dr Bob]

Chips do fail, moisture penetration usually, but very rarely. More commonly the scanner batteries need changing or recharging, for those using old scanners. I believe some new rechargeable scanners have a power display for when the power is too low to activate the chip.