Читать книгу 77 Things to Know Before Getting a Cat - Susan Ewing M. - Страница 38

A stray cat usually returns to places where he has found food.

There are several things to think about if you want to take in a stray cat. First, there are different kinds of stray cats. Feral cats are domestic cats that have “gone wild.” Maybe they were born and have lived their entire lives outdoors, or maybe they once lived in homes but have been in the “wild” for so long that they’ve adopted wild behavior.

Most feral cats avoid human contact. Although they may approach homes where they are fed, they frequently will wait until they are alone before eating. Many people feed feral cats, gradually trapping them, spaying or neutering, and then releasing them back into their colony. Feral cats help control the rodent population, especially in cities.

Helping to maintain feral cats can be rewarding, and the cats can be fun to watch, but feral cats can be very hard to tame. You have a better chance of raising the cat to be a pet if you take in a feral cat as a kitten but, even then, there’s no guarantee. Friends of mine took in a feral kitten, but he had already missed the critical socialization period, and he grew wilder and wilder, frequently biting and scratching with no provocation.

RABIES

Consider that a stray cat may not have been vaccinated against rabies, and a stray is more likely to encounter wild animals that may be rabid.

A stray cat who has started to hang out by your kitchen door is another story. A cat who is happy to be around people and might actually enter the house when invited is a stray who, for one reason or another, no longer has a home.

Many people adopt, or are adopted by, stray cats. If you’re not looking for any particular character traits and you don’t mind not knowing exactly how old the cat is, this is a perfectly good way to get a cat, but there are many unknowns that you’ll need to consider. With a stray, you don’t know the cat’s health history. For example, there’s no way to tell if the cat has been vaccinated, and the stray may have feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus, or feline panleukopenia (feline distemper). Because this is your first cat, you don’t need to worry about the stray infecting a resident cat, but you don’t know if that stray is ill or likely to become ill. You also may be opening your door to fleas and ticks as well as the cat.

While a veterinarian can make an educated guess about the cat’s age, you won’t know the exact age of your new family member. And, with a stray, you won’t know just what kind of a personality he has, even if he’s a pedigreed cat.

Our neighbors have a beautiful cat they took in as a stray. She is not a cuddler, and she rarely, if ever, sits on a lap. Her family is fine with that, and they love her, but if you want overt affection from a cat, maybe you should say no to a stray.

Some diseases that infect cats can be transmitted to people, and stray cats have a higher risk of contracting these diseases. Toxoplasmosis is one of these. Toxoplasmosis is generally not a problem for humans other than pregnant women. Because the disease is transmitted through cat feces, pregnant women are advised not to clean litter boxes. This doesn’t mean that you can’t have a cat if you’re pregnant; it means that someone else gets litter-box duties. However, if someone in the household is pregnant, taking in a stray is not your best option for getting a cat.

Bartonellosis, or “cat scratch fever,” is transmitted to cats by fleas. While not serious in healthy humans, it can cause problems in people with compromised immune systems. Keeping a cat flea-free is a good preventative, and a stray may already have a flea infestation.

None of the foregoing means that you shouldn’t welcome a stray. It does mean that, if you’ve made the decision to keep a stray, you should take him to a veterinarian sooner rather than later.

You have a better chance of raising a happy pet if you adopt a stray as a kitten.