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How To Know If The Cat You Have Found Is A Stray

Did you know that the ‘stray’ cat that often travels through your garden, or turns up at your house daily for a bite to eat or even has kittens in your yard often has a family of their own?

Many of the ‘stray’ cats that come into our care have clearly lived in a home before and the owners will soon be missing them terribly. Without identification, less than 1% are reclaimed often because they have been brought many km from their home to AWL.

Cats will always come back to a reliable source of food so kind animal lovers believing a cat to be a ‘stray’ and feeding it are actually reinforcing those roaming behaviours. We know of many cases of cats that have up to 5 homes that they visit each day to get a feed (and ending up very chubby!) with only the true owner knowing that the cat is indeed a much-loved member of their family.

Common signs that a cat is just passing through and has a home to return to are:

  • The cat confidently roams around in the middle of the day

  • The cat appears clean and healthy

  • The cat does not search for food

  • The cat is wearing a collar

Another sign that a cat is owned or has been owned at some point are a desexing tattoo and/or a microchipping tattoo.

Desexing Tattoo

If a cat has been desexed it may have a tattoo on the inside of it’s left ear. The tattoo looks like this.

What a desexing tattoo looks like in a cat's ear.


Microchipping Tattoo

In South Australia if an animal is microchipped it may have a tattoo on the inside of it’s right ear. The tattoo looks like this.

What a microchipping tattoo looks like in a cat's ear.

Please note that not all animals that have been desexed or microchipped have a tattoo so if there are no tattoos the cat could still be microchipped and desexed.

What are the first steps to finding out if this cat is really a stray

  • Ask the neighbours if their cat is missing or if they recognise the cat

  • Put up posters around your neighbourhood asking if anyone knows the cat and where he/she might live

  • Check lost and found groups for your area

If you don’t have any luck with locating an owner with the above methods, AWL advises that you ‘ask’ if the cat has an owner by placing a paper collar on the cat as detailed on our website here.

More desexed animals in the community means less abandoned or unwanted animals in animal shelters like Animal Welfare League. Desexing your pet will help control the stray animal population in the community – it’s currently the only effective and permanent method of preventing breeding.

To find out what to do if the cat is definitely a stray, check out our blog 'What to do if you find a stray cat'.

Desexing your pet is an important part of being a responsible pet owner and helping to control the stray cat population. Take the Pledge to desex your pet today.

Take the Pledge


Animal Welfare League

Animal Welfare League of South Australia Inc (AWL) brings together lost and abandoned pets and caring humans to create happy homes where everyone feels loved.

Contact
Animal Care Centre
1-19 Cormack Road,
Wingfield SA 5013
10am - 3pm
Tuesday - Sunday

Edinburgh North Shelter
4 Hewittson Road
Edinburgh North SA 5113
10am - 3pm
Tuesday - Sunday
P: 08 8348 1300
E: support@awl.org.au
Pet adoption
Cat adoption
Dog adoption
Rabbit adoption
Frequently asked questions
Find a vet
Help us help animals
Donate online
Sponsor a pet
Donate items
Leave a legacy to animals in need
Do your own fundraising
Buy lottery tickets
Volunteer with our team
Become a foster carer
Animal welfare education
Pet boarding
Make an enquiry
Cat boarding
Dog boarding
Boarding services menu
House rules
Pet daycations
Terms and conditions
Pet cremations
Make an enquiry
Remembering your pet
Bringing them home
Equine cremation
Volunteer with our team
Frequently asked questions
Find a vet
Op shops
Our locations
Donate items
Volunteer with our team
I've lost my pet
Hints and tips
Submit a lost pet report
List of found pets
List of pets found by councils
Lost pets noticeboard
I've found an animal
Lost pets noticeboard
I've found a cat
I've found a dog
Rehome my pet
Rehome your cat
Rehome your dog
Rehome your rabbit
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08 8348 1300
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