Blue Cross pet care

When is a stray cat really a stray?

Blue animal rehoming centre in Catshill, Bromsgrove regularly receives enquiries from animal lovers about a cat they think is stray in the neighbourhood. Some are even brought in for rehoming but when scanned for a microchip they often turn out to be an owned and loved pet.

Microchipping, compulsory by law with dogs, is a way of swiftly reuniting a missing pet with their owners – as long as the owner keeps their contact details for the chip up to date.

However, many cats brought into Blue Cross rehoming centres do not have a microchip but are suspected to be owned pets because of their friendly nature and healthy physical condition. Blue Cross would like to see microchipping of cats compulsory to reduce the number of ‘strays’ they take in every year.

Without a microchip it is difficult and usually impossible for the charity to track down their owners and all they can do is find them a new home if no-one comes forward to claim them.

Well-meaning animal lovers may think a cat is a stray and leave out food for them, however this can be a real problem if the cat is owned by someone else. Cats will always come back to a reliable source of food so kind animal lovers believing a cat to be a stray and feeding it might be luring it away from home. There have been cases of people keeping the cat themselves, leaving their loving owners at a devastating loss of not knowing what happened to their pet.

Some cats may also have a medical condition that mean it can be dangerous for them to eat certain foods and cats can easily become overweight if they are fed more times than they should be – leading to serious health problems.

Before feeding or taking in a ‘stray’ cat Blue Cross recommends you: • Ask your neighbours if their cat is missing or if they recognise the cat. • Consider putting up a ‘found’ poster with a photo of the cat. • Check local ‘lost and found pets’ groups on Facebook. • Call your local vet or rescue centre to see if they know of anyone looking for their cat.

Blue Cross has further advice at www.bluecross.org.uk/straycat and is offering a free paper collar to download and attach to a suspected stray to find out if they are owned.