What Do You Do With an Abandoned Cat?

If you come across an abandoned cat, you’ve got a few options: you can adopt them (after checking in with animal control), find them a new home, or surrender them to a shelter or rescue. But before you do any of that, make sure they’re actually abandoned. They could be a feral cat or someone’s missing pet.

Cats on the street: Abandoned, feral, or lost?

It would certainly make things easier if a cat you found could tell you their story. Instead, you have to piece it together using clues from the cat’s condition and behavior.

Feral Cats

Feral cats are those who were born outside and are usually part of a colony. Most of these cats will not make suitable house pets as they have not been socialized and are afraid of people.

There are exceptions to this, but socializing them is a long process, and some cats will never be comfortable around people no matter how much time goes by. While feral cats will not make good house pets, they can be used as mousers in a barn-home-type arrangement.

Clues that you’re dealing with a feral cat include:

• The cat runs when approached.

• The cat will not meow or purr.

• You may see the cat in the same place at the same time each day.

Lost pet

When a house cat escapes their home, it’s possible for them to become disoriented and have trouble finding his way back home. A lost cat will typically be socialized and may approach people for pets or food.

If you find a social cat, bring them to a vet or shelter to see if they have a microchip. You can also check community pages like NextDoor or local Facebook lost pet pages to see if any listed cats match the one you’ve found.

You should also notify animal control if you think the cat is a lost pet, as that’s the first place many pet parents look for a lost cat.

Note: In some locations, animal control will require that you hand the cat over to them. If this is the case where you live, and you worry for the cat’s safety, make it very clear that you’ll take the cat if their home isn’t found.

Abandoned cat

Many times, abandoned cats are identified by neighbors who know the family moved and left the cat behind. Abandoned cats will often be social, maybe hungry (they don’t know how to fend for themselves), and hang around the place where they were abandoned, waiting for their family to return.

Once you know that the cat is not feral and no pet parents have been located, you’ll have to decide what to do with the cat. Your options are:

• Keep Them: Thanks for being the cat’s hero, and congratulations on your new family member.

• Surrender Them: You can leave the cat at an animal shelter, and the staff will do all they can to get it adopted. However, the reality is that many shelters have high euthanasia rates — especially for cats. Be sure to do some research before surrendering a cat.

• Rehome them yourself: Taking the time to find a cat a new, loving home is a true act of kindness. Visit the Rehome website for tips and tools that make the process easier.