Stray cat wants to adopt itself to me?!

[Maniac Craniac]

I posted this in the A-forum (*wink/grin*) earlier, so you're not seeing double if you're also a member there.

First- since this is not the kind of topic that we specialize in here- if anyone knows a credible source for handling stray or feral cats, please direct me. A forum would be nice. I'm posting here because there is nothing but conflicting information out there and I trust that the educated folks here wouldn't direct me to yahoo answers or anything that loony

Cutest thing, a sweet little meek cat was waiting or me at my door today- in fact, it had curled up in the corner and was looking right at home. It stared at me beggingly and cried and then tried to force its way inside. I gave it some chicken and water, but it didn't touch either and still wanted to come inside. I bought some cat food and kitty litter, in case it was domesticated and was in need of some relief. It didn't touch either and still wanted to get inside. Whenever I picked up some food in my hand, it would race to me and smell it, only to leave it untouched and rub itself on me. What the heck! It wasn't acting aggressively so I let it inside. It wandered all around like it was looking for something, but never settled on anything it found interesting. I tried to give it more food, water, pet it a bit and gave it some privacy to consider relieving itself in the litter I set out. No go. It just kept looking at me and crying. I gently forced it out, because it is acting strange and I don't want it attacking me in my sleep. When I did so, using a broom, it really, REALLY wanted to stay inside. Mind you, the door to my apartment leads to an indoor hallway, so it's not trying to get out from the cold, and it doesn't want anything I offer it, but still wants to specifically spend time in MY apartment as opposed to any of my hundreds of neighbors.

My only two thoughts are that it may be dying or pregnant and looking for a place to settle down and do either- but it looks healthy and doesn't have a baby bulge. It has a feminine face, but I'm too afraid to examine a strange cat to find out for sure.

What the heck is up with this little, possibly possessed cutie? Any experts out there in DF-land?

[mrs.b]

Congratulations! A cat has adopted you!

Or not. I'm not an expert, but have always owned these fuzzy beasts (never more than two at a time), some of which had been feral (or at least not entirely domesticated) beforehand. Sometimes cats just act like they want something, with little way of identifying what that might be. S/he could just be figuring your place out. S/he could have your place mistaken with another; maybe s/he lives on another floor? (That's not likely since cats are pretty good about knowing their surroundings, unless she's newly adopted.)

If you want to give her another shot at having a new home, I'd take pictures and put up a poster somewhere in your building just in case someone is missing her (and vice versa). Also, a trip to the vet might not be a bad idea, just to be sure s/he doesn't have fleas or anything else you should know about. I sincerely doubt she'll hurt you in your sleep no matter what, though. Just let her explore if you want to consider adopting her. She'll probably calm down once she figures out the layout of the place and finishes sniffing everything. Cats are worse than dogs where that's concerned, I think. Not only must they sniff everything, everything must be bumped, and they must try to squeeze into and sit in anything that might possibly be of a size they can squeeze into and sit (no matter how tight the fit), and climb anything climbable. She's got a lot on her to-do list and it sounds like you only gave her a little bit of time to start sniffing and bumping and checking everything. Don't be surprised if it takes days for her to settle and feel comfortable eating or using a litter box (well, she'll do both if she's healthy, but not when you're anywhere nearby until she's much more comfortable with and familiar with you).

One of our two cats acts that way every day when we first get home until the pace in the house settles down, then so does she. When we first brought her and her brother home after adopting them, I don't think she stopped meeping and searching the place for two days. Her brother, on the other hand, gave not a single darn; he was let out of his carrier, made one circuit of the place to figure out where the basic necessities were, and claimed my husband's favorite chair for a nap. Different cats just have different personalities, and when they're in strange (to them) environments, they just act a bit odd until they settle in.

[ejcompere]

Lol. So funny! Seriously... I dont think you need to worry about the cat hurting you. We've taken in two stray cats before. One we had to put back out because she was older and very wild natured. She was sweet but could not control her teeth when playing. So she lived in the yard. The other was a tiny kitten. He was too little to even climb up a step when he followed us home one day. My guess is the cat who came to you is used to people showing her affection and so that's why she jsut wants to rub on you all the time. If you leave food, water, litter out, she'll use them if she wants.