So what do I do about this stray cat?

Most people, upon seeing a stray cat, think there must be someone they can call who will handle the situation. In Baltimore City, you can call 311 and put in a request for animal control, or submit a request online -- but this department is severely understaffed and an officer won't be able to respond to your request for days. (By which time, of course, the cat may be nowhere to be found.)

You can try calling a rescue -- a list (PDF or Excel spreadsheet) is available from the Feline Rescue Association -- but you'll usually find that most of them are full. These groups are usually staffed by overworked volunteers, so even if you can find one to help you, it still might take several days.

If you can, please consider taking the stray cat into your home temporarily, so it will be safe and well-fed while you try to either find its owner or find a rescue/shelter or new home for it. Just keep it separate from any cats of your own, and be very careful in handling the cat -- because you don't know the cat's vaccination history, you want to be sure not to get bitten. Stray cats can sometimes have upper respiratory infections, which are not usually life-threatening but are contagious to other cats, or they can have more serious illnesses like distemper, feline leukemia, FIV, or rabies. Plan to keep the cat separate from your own for at least several days, so you can be sure it seems generally healthy, and get it tested for FIV/feline leukemia before you allow it to mingle with your own cats.

Before assuming any "stray" cat needs a home, make sure it doesn't already have one. Cats do escape and get lost, and even a well-kept pet will look pretty rough after just a few weeks on the streets.

Report the cat as "found," and check local "lost" listings. Don't overlook old lost cat reports; there are plenty of stories of cats who have been lost for months, or even years, before being reunited with their owners. Here are some local links to use:

  • Maryland SPCA
  • BARCS (Baltimore City animal control)
  • Baltimore Craigslist
  • Petfinder
  • Nearby veterinary clinics and pet supply stores

    Post flyers in the area where you found the cat, and stick them in the mailboxes of surrounding houses.

    When advertising a "found" pet publicly (i.e. on Craigslist or on a flyer), give a very vague description and ask anyone who contacts you to describe the cat in detail and provide you with a photo, so you can be sure the person is really the owner. When submitting a "found cat" report to BARCS or the SPCA, however, you want to be as detailed as possible and include a photo of the cat, to help the shelter staff try to find a match among their "lost cat" reports.

    Have the cat checked for a microchip. Most local veterinarians' offices will probably scan the cat for a chip at no charge -- just call and tell them you've found a stray, and ask if a tech can scan it for you. A vet or vet tech might also be willing to look for a spay scar on a female cat (this usually requires shaving the belly, and even then it can be very hard to tell). It should be visibly obvious if a male cat has not yet been "fixed!"

    If you don't get any responses after a week or so, you can generally assume no one is looking for your found cat. (If the cat is not spayed or neutered, it is extremely likely that the former owners either abandoned it, or just don't care that it got lost.) Now it's time to decide what to do with "your" stray cat.

    You can consider keeping the cat yourself, of course. There's always room for one more, right? ;) And you may find that you've fallen hopelessly in love with the cat in the time that you've been fostering it anyway. Feel free to add another to your feline family!

    If you're not able to keep the cat yourself, you can give it to a rescue or shelter to rehome. Of course, as we mentioned earlier, most rescues are constantly full, so finding one that is willing and able to take your stray might be difficult. You can surrender the cat to BARCS or the Maryland SPCA, and they will put it up for adoption -- but there are many more cats looking for homes in shelters than there are people who want to adopt, so there is a very good chance that the cat would eventually be euthanized because of space constraints.

    And there's one final option -- try to adopt the cat out yourself. Ask friends, family, and co-workers if they're looking for a pet. Advertise the cat on Craigslist, on the various pet adoption web sites, or even on a flyer at the grocery store or your veterinarian's office. It can take some time, but you'll be assured that a nice cat won't end up euthanized just because it wasn't adopted quickly enough. And you'll also be helping to free up space at rescues and shelters, so they can help other cats.