Need help locating owners of our "found" cat

[jazzcat]

Okay, Matilda acts like she is moving in so I need to know how to go about looking for her owners, if there are any.

Aside from going door to door and putting up signs is there anything else I can do. I really feel like she isn't from our neighborhood. We had to go out a little bit ago and we drove through the subdivision looking for any lost cat signs but saw nothing.

Right now she is in the garage with the back door open so she can go out if she wants.

I know it's hard to tell what a cat is thinking but how would you read this? Yesterday when I went out around 5 pm I heard her crying very loudly in the woods and I thought it was our neighbor's cat who is vocal but then about and hour later when my husband went out with me we heard her and walked back to look and she was sitting on a stump right outside our fence crying very hard. She started headbumping the chainlink fence as we approached and when hubby opened the gate she came running in. Last night she cried out on the deck everytime she would see or hear us moving around. Does that sound like a two timer or more like a lost or dumped cat?

Anyway, thanks for any help!

[Equus217]

Gosh...she doesn't really sound like a two-timer. Somone mentioned earlier in your first thread she could be in heat. That sounds likely to me. My guess would be her first owners didn't get her spayed, and she got past cute kitty stage and is now in heat so they dumped her. That could explain all the crying she seems to do.
How about an ad in the newspaper? We have a paper here that doesn't charge for lost/found ads. Mabye your local news would flash a picture up for you? And I would contact area shelters too, and maybe give them a picture of her. THat way if her owners are looking for her...they will probably call the shelter.
Good luck!!!

petfinder also has a lost/found site don't they?

[Craftlady]

If she is in heat it's a shreaking cry. I relate it to a howling sound. You'd think someone was torturing the poor kitty. I would say if she is just mewing crying when she sees or hears you it's a lost or dumped off kitty. I would summarize in my mind. If the kitty doesnt have a collar with tag on or microchiped I would consider it mine :) I would probably not let it out and about just incase if it's in heat your likely to have kittens soon down the road.

[Grace]

Is there an Animal Shelter or Vet near you? If so, get her in one or the other and have her scanned for a chip. If she has one, that may lead you to her owner.

We adopted a wandering stray this winter. But first I put notices in mailboxes of nearby homes; in grocery stores; in Vet's offices and at the Humane Society. Nothing worked, so Red now belongs to us.

Good Luck - Matilda sure is a pretty thing.

[rg_girlca]

Poor Matilda. Number 1, she could be in heat or 2, she is starving for affection.

Equus gave some good advice in regards to looking for her owners.

Good luck with Matilda. She is such a pretty girl.

[MULTICATMOM]

DOES SHE STICK HER BUTT UP? THEN I'D SAY HEAT. IF NO, SHE'S JUST CLAIMED Y'ALL AS HER PEOPLE!

[Tonya]

One piece of advice I have is do not be to descriptive in your found cat signs and ads. When I found that kitten that one time, I was amazed at how many people were quick to claim her. I don't even think that I gave her to the correct home. I even had people calling who were at least honest. "Well, she isn't mine, but I want her..."

[Randy_K]

My mom has a cat who is looking for a new home. He and his identical sister live about a half a block from my mom (and her Russian Blue Binky) but the male (my mom calls "White Paws) is obviously looking for a new home. These neighbors have small kids and he evidently can't stand them and runs from them. His sister doesn't mind the kids and can sleep around them. "White Paws" comes to my mom's and walks right in through the cat door. As soon as he sees her his tail is up... he's so affection starved. The Binkster isn't pleased, though. He'll let the visitor eat his food and then chases him away.

[catcrazylady]

It sounds to me like she has been a house cat. She must have been around a fenced yard to and this all seems familiar to her. If it's because someone threw her out or if it is because she is lost is anybodies guess. She sounds like a real sweety and since she is so friendly it doesn't sound like she was abused. But we all have different ideas of abuse too! Some of the friendliest cats I have ever seen are the ones that get totally ignored by people and they are starved for affection.
I would ask your nearest neighbors and people in the area you trust to be honest if they have ever seen her of if they know someone who is missing their cat. You could post a few flyers but I wouldn't put a description at all! Let them tell you so you know it isn't someone who will sell her to some lab. If you can run an add in the local paper just saying found cat in such and such area call with description. Oh and another thing I would do is call your local shelter and see if anyone has called them looking for her. I know when Leroy was missing that is one of the first places I called before checking with all the local vets.
My guess is that she is yours! You never know though and someone could be frantically looking for her. It would be nice to think that is the situation but as we all know that probably is not the case.

[catlady1945]

What we did was post notices at the local vets, the local store and in the newspaper (they usually don't charge for 'found' notices. Also, you can check with the humane society or equivalent in your area. One cat which we found was actually claimed (darn it!), but the other two became part of our family.

[jazzcat]

Thanks for all the replies. I've checked with our local animal shelter and they have lost and found list online and at the shelter. They took my info to add to the shelter list and I'm going to fill out the online form also. I went through their lost list but nothing remotely matched. I've also looked through today's paper but nothing.

It is storming really badly here or I would have already hit the neighborhood with found cat signs and asked some of my neighbors if they've seen her or have any clue. I will hold out describing her so no one with bad intentions claims her.

We decided to verify that she is a female (I've been assuming that since she is a diluted tortie) and also to see if we can feel a spay scar but she got very upset, growled and bit at Rich when he touched her stomach. She is definetely a she but he didn't get a chance to feel for a scar. Of course I know the scar could be healed and unable able to feel now.

My vet is closed but I will take her Monday to be scanned if they do that, if not I guess I'll take her to the shelter and have them check. She is so happy and content in the garage right now. She loves to sleep on top of my Jeep and I saw her trying to get into the opened sunroof of Rich's car, LOL!

I'll take all of your advice and hopefully locate her family if she has one. Thanks!