I was adopted by a stray cat awhile back....

[Hotler]

I think he was abandoned. Took him to the vet and he is chipped. Do I ask who the original owners are and ask if they want him back or, forget about it. Thoughts?

[greymattermom]

1. If they chipped the cat

they are the owners and should know the cat is still alive.

[TruckFump]

2. Check the owners out first.

The primary importance is the animal. PERIOD.

You love him, but if he had a loving home, give him back. However, if the owners cannot be found or if the cat was in fact abandoned, do what is best for the cat.

[IndyOp]

3. Unless you are certain that the cat was abandoned, I'd

reach out to the owners. The vet will look up his chip number and see if the previous owners provided up-to-date contact information. If so, the vet can contact them. Maybe the vet could sort of feel the owners out - see if they emphatically state that the cat was lost and offer to come to get the cat immediately and show photos of happy cat that reveal cat was treated well.

Maybe you can ask the vet how this could be done so that cat only returns to owners if owners deserve to have the cat back...?

Good luck.

If my cat wandered off, I'd be desperate to hear about him.

[tblue37]

4. How long ago? My Tico was a feral that I adopted 5 and a half years ago (born feral). I

have 3 other (indoor) cats,but Tico goes nuts if he doesn't get an hour or two outside each day when the weather permits. I only let him out when I am home and can check on him, but if I ever lost him, I would be devastated. It's not likely that anyone else could find and adopt him, since he is very smart and skittish when around other people and when outside, but if that ever happened, I'd sure want to be contacted.

If he was abandoned, then they won't want him back, so your conscience would be clear.

OTOH, if he was simply a neglected outside cat, then they probably won't care if you offer to keep him.

[iscooterliberally]

5. I lost two cats in 2018.

They were both female. Both were micro chipped and I'd love to get them back. I don't hold out much hope though because one was advanced in age. She would be 17 as of last week. The other had hyper-thyroid. We were saving up the money to get her operated on, but she made it through a hole in the fence and disappeared. You should try to find out about the original owners before you contact them though. I have a bunch of other cats now. They were all strays from feral parents, etc. My wife and our next door neighbor set traps and got everyone fixed. We tried to adopt out the kittens, but ended up with 3 forever cats. We have another stray kitten that followed our 3 large dogs home from the dog park. She's here to stay too. It breaks my heart not knowing what happened to my other ones, but sometimes life just doesn't go the way we want. The 17 year old cat was the most affectionate pet I ever had, even more than all the dogs if you can believe that. No matter what goes down, thank you for taking care of the stray cat!

[hlthe2b]

6. Sorry. This is a tough situation. That said, the odds that someone would pay to chip an animal

and not want them if they were lost is fairly low. Obviously someone could have adopted an already chipped cat from the shelter, been negligent and perhaps didn't really care that much. But, in that latter case, it may well be that the chip was never registered beyond the original shelter. Tracing the chip can tell you.

I feel for you because you've cared for him obviously. But, for anyone who has ever lost an animal and cared deeply, I think they'd hope you'd check it out. It may well be that it works out for everyone. You may get to keep the cat, but know that there was not someone still looking and wondering what happened.

[Karadeniz]

7. As an animal rescuer, my highest priority is the animal. When you find a chipped pet

Outdoors, there are usually two options. An indoor cat ran out a door and got scared of returning. Kitty was an outdoor cat whose owners moved...maybe they'd arranged for a neighbor to take over feeding.

Since kitty is obviously tame...you got him to the vet...he may have been in a home where kids weren't careful about door closing. If an outdoor cat, it's strange that he didn't stay loyal to his food source. Don't dismiss the possibility that kitty was driven away and dumped.

I'm perhaps too harsh on the owners. I assume that if they can't keep kitty safe indoors, that's not a safe home. If I'm not seeing lost pet postings, they don't care. (I have put up found cat/dog posters and always received a response.)

But honest mistakes can happen. How about putting up some found cat posters and give them a few days? If you get no response, you can keep kitty or phone, making it clear that you've been happily taking care of Gato for____days.

Is kitty using a litter box? If not, put kitty and box in a bathroom for a few days until he gets the message.

Thanks for helping one of our furry friends!❤by

[lettucebe]

8. What makes you think the cat was abandoned?

That answer would give more context, since usually anyone that bothers to chip an animal obviously cares. It'd seem odd they wouldn't at least take an animal to a shelter or try to find a new family.

[shenmue]

9. Ask them. If they don't want him, adopt.

[Boomer]

10. Please don't leave the owners wondering

For most of us, there's nothing worse than losing a pet and never knowing what happened to it.

[radical noodle]

11. I would try to contact them

but also tell them that I was willing to give the cat a good home if they don't want him back. Give them a graceful out if they really have no interest in the cat any longer. I have a friend who had two cats disappear about 18 months ago when she was having some furniture moved, and she still looks for them. She's heartbroken that they're missing.

Some pets become strays because their humans are irresponsible, but accidents do happen and those pets should be reunited with their owners.