Conference misery::feline

    I would definately take her to the vet and have her checked for the
    MANY kitty diseases and get her a flea collar too...
    
    SueJ

    Hmmm...female strays at this time of the year usually are
    pregnant!!  I also would bring her to the vet for a checkup
    and get her spayed immediately or you will be dealing with
    a litter real soon.
    
    I would also have her checked for worms/mites etc....
    
    Good luck.....it get expensive helping strays!!  I just spent
    $227 on my last one who was very sick.
    
    Sandy

Well, looks like you got sucked in too!  Congratulations!!!!  :)

First things first, VET!

Because you don't really know who belongs to this kitty, your vet will take her
from scratch, which, under the circumstances, should NOT be TOOOO expensive
because you will tell the vet that this kitty is a stray and the ensuing visit
should go somethink like this:

	The vet will give this kitty a physical exam and let you know it's
	current condition (preggers or no, ear mites, worms, ticks, boo boos,
	etc.).

	Temperature will be taken

	Weight

	Rabies Shot

After that, you and the vet will decide the best course of action on your part. 
You will decide whether or not to offer kitty a home.  If so, you will then
proceed with making the appointment for the spaying/neutering, if necessary. 
While kitty is already anesthetized, have them test for Feline Leukemia, if
negative, which it most likely will be although there is always a chance
otherwise, then proceed with the shot along with the other various shots
necessary (distemper, etc).  Also while quieted, you may want to have her
dewormed and bathed.  With all that, the vet may clip claws and clean ears at no
charge.

You will need a cat carrier or something.  I found a plastic one at Just For
Pets for $7.88 and it has paid for itself 10 times over!!!  It's great because
all I have to do is hose it down and it's clean!  If you don't want to hassle a
carrier, then just use a pillowcase (that's what my new vet recommended).

Have a blast!!!!  I am sooooooooooooooo glad I did it!

Sandra

I'd suggest a Felv/FIV "combo test" to check for leukemia and FIV. If the cat's
positive you'll have a chance to decide whether or not to put it to sleep before
spending additional $$. You could probably drop the cat off in the morning, have
the leukemia test done during the day and if it's negative, get have the rabies
and feluke vaccinations done before picking up in the evening.

						Trace

    CONGRATULATIONS !!!!
    
    I just took two strays in to the vet (one has a home he is going to)
    and the total bill for both of them is/was $249.50
    
    A friend of mine helped to defray some of the cost.  Maybe you could
    get someone to help you as well.  They also have low-cost spay/neuter
    certificates available.  Do a Dir/title= spay or neuter to see if you
    can find where.
    
    	Male:   Neuter, Rabies, Distemper, Luek test (negative) and shot.
    
    	Female: Spay, Rabies, Distemper, Luek test (negative) and shot.
    
    They both also got a clean bill of health.  In my eyes, it was worth
    the money.  The female had just gone into heat and I didn't want her to
    get pregnant and give me babies to find homes for.
    
    Good luck in taming the baby.  I still have one that is too afraid of
    people.  She will come to me and let me pet her and feed her on the
    outside porch but she won't let me pick her up or close a door yet.
    
    Sandi (S stands for Sucker)
    

    Thanks for your suggetions.  IF I could get within 3 feet of this
    cat, I'd have her/him at the vet in a minute.
    
    As I said, we don't know how old it is or if it's a male or a female. 
    All we know is, it's going to town on the cat food we've set out for
    it.  It is gaining a lot of weight.  I am afraid that it is indeed
    pregnant.  How can I get closer to it to take a better look?  She/
    He/It is dividing its time between underneath our deck and underneath
    our neighbor's front porch.  
    
    Also, this cat looked pretty young to me and my husband.  How old do
    they have to be to whelp?  Only about 6-8 months, right??  If she does
    give birth, *what on earth are we going to do with her kittens????* 
    Our neighborhood is already "petted" out, between dogs and cats and so
    on.
    
    I've grown awfully fond of this kitty even though she won't let me (or
    anyone else) near her.

    I've never used one but it seems this file is full of glowing
    recommendations for the "Have-a-heart" trap.  If s/he is such a
    chowhound, it should work like a dream.  Maybe someone in this file
    could lend you one?
    
    Leslie

	I also recommend the Hav-a-heart trap, having used it to catch Gypsy,
my feral cat.  I don't have one myself, but Taylor Rental rents them for
about 12 dollars a day or $25 a week.  I have had Gypsy for 17 months now, and
with me continually spoiling him I still cannot pet him or pick him up.
He won't have another vets visit until I can, but he's an all indoor cat now,
as are all my cats, so luckily he'll be fine.  The moral of this story is that
most likely you will not be able to catch this cat without a trap!

	Good luck,
	Laura

    The Hav-a-heart is the way to go if you would like to prevent
    this kitty from having her babies under your porch. (assuming
    she is a girl!!)   The key to using the trap is the kitty must
    be very hungry so you might have to stop free feeding her for
    a day or two.   I have seen some strays just walk right in the
    trap...but some other strays having given me a very hard time.
    There are other helpful hints on using a trap with hard to trap
    cats....so if you do have a hard time just let us know.
    
    Sandy
    

    It is possible to catch a feral/stray without a trap but it 
    takes a lot of time and patience to do it.  I was able to do
    it with Torbie.  It involved sitting quietly by while she was
    eating and literally inching my way closer each time.
    
    First touches were in the tail area while she was eating.  Once
    I got past that barrier I was able to pet her only while she 
    was eating and only if she didn't see my hand coming first.  I
    kept this up for quite a while, sitting and petting her while
    she was eating.  One day I lifted her off the ground about 2
    inches and put her back to eating.  Did this for quite a while
    too lifting her just a bit higher each time and putting her back.
    
    One day I noticed she had a problem with her eye.  I approached
    her from behind (as always) and petted her till she was in a purring
    mood then gently lifted her up.  She didn't fight me at all so I 
    just walked inside with her.  Took her to the vet the next day
    and spent the next couple of weeks putting every medication known
    to man in her eyes or ears, etc.  Did let her back outside while 
    I was treating her little problems as I had no where to keep her 
    inside.  Finally when I moved I picked her up and took her with me.  
    She's been inside since.
    
    Just wanted you to know it could be done.  Torbie was an unspayed 
    10 month old female feral when I found her.  I was lucky she wasn't
    pregnant by the time I got her inside.  If you don't have lots of
    time and patience to get this one used to you, you may want to go
    with the H-A-H trap instead.
    
    Usually I get the combo test for FELV/FIV first before I do any 
    other shots, etc.  Once the test comes back negative I work on the 
    3-in-1 shot, rabies shot, etc. and spaying and neutering as well as
    fixing other problems like worms, earmites, health issues, etc.
    
    Jan
                                                                   

    Re: .10
    
    This sounds like how I adopted my Pussycat and Tommy.  Tommy was still
    "feral" when i noticed one day that his eye was weeping a lot.  A close
    look showed a little splinter in the skin at the corner of the eye; 
    amazingly, he let me pull it out.  (If he had been a tame kitty, I
    would have not touched it and instead rushed him to the vet, but since
    it seemed to be in the skin, was very small, and it was a miracle that
    he had let me get that close even once, I chanced it.)  They really
    do know after awhile when you're trying to help, despite the uproar the
    Cat Code requires them to pull on appropriate occasions.
    

    Well, Mystery Cat was meowing on our deck last night, but she ran
    away as soon as I opened the door.  this morning she was got very
    brave and actually walked up the steps and was looking hopefully
    at the door.  Of course, she ducked back under the deck when Mike
    went out to feed her.  But I feel like progress is being made!  S/He
    is still growing quickly and eating well.  S/He can squeeze between the
    balusters on our deck (my husband made the spaces between the rails to
    conform to the standards for babies' cribs), so I don't think it's
    pregnant.  Not yet, anyway.
    
    Keep your fingers crossed, I would prefer to try to give this one a
    home instead of going to the animal shelter.