Last updated on October 23rd, 2022
Imagine you’re in a hurry, getting ready for work. You’ve had your breakfast, picked up your lunch pack, and headed straight towards the door. After opening your door, you almost bumped into someone!
There you find a stray cat waiting for you desperately. For the time being, you shoo it away. But the stray kitty keeps coming back every day.
Many people think they know why stray cats follow them and while some cats may follow you just because they want to know what you’re up to, others might have more sinister motives.
For example, if the cat following you has a scratch mark on its face, it may be following you to make sure that you’re not going to call the police.
Sounds familiar, right? Alright, jokes aside, what’s the real reason they do it?
Here Are 5 Reasons Why Stray Cats Follow You:
- 1. Stray cats will follow people mostly for food. They’re used to having somebody feeding them leftovers.
- 2. Stray cats will follow you because they are seeking companionship. You might’ve been the first person they saw in a while.
- 3. Stray cats are attracted to people who seem friendly and caring.
- 4. Stray cats are oftentimes very lonely animals so they’ll be hoping that you’ll adopt and give them a permanent home.
- 5. Stray cats will also follow you because you resemble their previous owner whom they got separated from.
The global cat population is roughly 370 million! So, there’s a high chance that you will bump into them at almost every turn of the street.
You may find that the stray kitten is only lingering around in the hope of getting some attention, love, and care.
By the way, cats are great attention seekers, and they can do anything to win that, even if it means they’ll have to bite and lick you!
3 Different Types of Stray Cats to Look Out For
There are three basic categories of cats that may show up at your door. They include:
Free-Range Cats:
It’s possible to tame these cats since they’re generally born in adverse or inhospitable situations, such as on the streets. Free-range cats may also be the ones that are abandoned by their owners.
Feral Cats:
Feral cats are non-domesticated and have usually been untrained to reside with humans.
This type of cat is also known as a free-roaming cat that isn’t very responsive to humans and can lash out or become aggressive if they feel threatened.
Stray Cats:
These kittens are usually domesticated, and their pet owner may live nearby. The cat probably got lost.
In such cases, you can look for signs of ownership by checking the tag on their collar which should have the contact details of the owner.
If there is no collar on the stray, you might need to scan the microchip by visiting a veterinary clinic to get the owner’s contact number.
What to Do When a Stray Cat Comes to Your House?
A stray cat wants to gain access to your house, probably to get shelter, food, and water, but you’re not sure whether the stray kitty has fleas or other health problems.
It would be best if you kept the stray cat in a separate area, away from other pets in the home to keep them safe from contracting any sort of disease.
When a stray feline arrives at your door, here are a few things you can do.
Provide Food and Water
If the stray appears friendly, you can approach slowly and talk in a soft and polite voice. Offer some cat food along with a bowl of water.
If you are afraid of getting scratched or bitten, you can wear protective gloves or keep your distance, and the animal will keep its distance too.
However, Once you start providing food to stray cats, they’ll come back for more every day.
So, ensure to place any meal for the stray in a safe area outside your house where the cat can access it easily.
Check for Identification
It may happen to be a case where a cat belonging to some owner may have lost its way.
Check to see whether the cat is wearing any tag mentioning the contact details of the owner.
Otherwise, the pet owner will be worried and searching for their missing animal.
Offer a Safe and Warm Place
The stray cat may simply be looking for some shelter, especially if it’s a rainy day or if it’s too cold outside.
You can give the stray cat a warm towel or blanket and put them in a safe spot.
Also, ensure that you keep the stray cat away from your pets or children to prevent the spread of infections or diseases that this stray animal may be carrying.
Avoid petting or getting too close to the animal if it appears too scared. It may bite or scratch you.
Wait until the animal is calm and feels more comfortable. If the stray cat is wet, you can dry it using a soft cloth towel.
Put a Paper Cat Collar Around its Neck
Sometimes it is hard to identify whether it’s a stray cat or a house cat.
In this case, you may need to place a simple paper collar around the feline’s neck, probably a printout or a handwritten one.
The paper collar must include your contact number to check whether you can locate the owner.
If you didn’t hear anything after a few days, you could assume that it’s a stray cat looking for some food or shelter.
Click here to download a printable template of a paper pet collar.
Take the Stray Cat to get Veterinary Care
As mentioned above, if you don’t find any tag attached to the cat’s collar, a microchip containing the owner’s details may be present.
Consider taking it to a vet so that the microchip can be scanned and the owner informed of their feline’s whereabouts.
If there’s no microchip found, you may have to keep the cat with you but it’s important that you let the cat undergo a complete health checkup so that you can take it home with you until the right owner is found.
Are Stray Cats More Affectionate?
Stray cats are more affectionate since they have a low quality of living and are lonely most of the time. The easiest way you can tell if a stray cat is affectionate is when the stray makes eye contact with you and meows whereas stray feral cats are unlikely to purr, meow, or engage in eye contact.
At times, some cats are more affectionate and seek your attention more than others, probably because they love human interaction.
This is mostly the case with stray cats who have known what human interaction was like, mostly because they have been former pets and now are lost or abandoned.
Therefore, these stray cats seek human companions to continue enjoying this affection.
Furthermore, stray cats have equated and associated humans as caregivers, providing food, warmth, and petting.
This is why most stray cats generally allow you to pet them and show love, as they enjoy being taken care of.
However, before petting an unknown feline animal, make sure to keep a safe distance in the initial days because it takes some time to gain a stray cat’s trust that you won’t harm them.
What Does It Mean When A Stray Cat Meows At You?
Meowing is the most common sound made by cats and stray cats will meow at you when they’re trying to get your attention while communicating that they’re either hungry, cold, or lonely since they don’t display this behavior to other stray felines.
If a cat has been socialized with human beings, then it’s more likely that it has learned this behavior from us.
So, when a stray cat meows at you, it either means they’re looking for some food and water or they’re feeling sick and need help.
Sometimes, meowing may also mean that a stray cat is feeling cold and needs a warmer place, like your home.
If you wish to adopt or give shelter to a stray cat, it is recommended that you spay or neuter it to avoid the litter of kittens.
You may ask, why is it always me that stray cats follow and want attention from? Well, that answer lies in you!
Cats are good judges of a person’s character. So, the next time a cat follows you or peeps into your home for food and shelter, it’s probably because they know that you are a good human being and will be a great caretaker of them.
What Does It Mean When a Stray Cat Hisses at You?
When a stray cat hisses at you, it means that they see you as a potential threat because they don’t know or trust you. This is the behavior you’ll mostly see in aggressive or frightened felines. However, it’s not a good idea to hiss back at an aggressive or scared cat.
Cats hiss mainly as a communication sign to fellow animals to alert them of the probable danger they’re in.
When a cat hisses, it indicates that they aren’t happy and are feeling threatened. Hissing may sometimes be a way to tell you that they’re avoiding any physical confrontation.
Hissing also occurs in inter-cat fights when they feel they’re in danger or are being chased.
In short, when a stray cat hisses at you, it’s because they don’t trust you and are expressing feelings like fear, discomfort, or even stress.
Do Stray Cats Attack Humans?
Stray cats do attack humans however, this is mostly displayed by feral cats that developed similar instinctual behaviors as wild cats. They tend to become cautious and on guard to the point where they quickly move into attack mode whenever their safety is threatened.
Whenever possible, you should avoid approaching or attempting to pick up a feral cat.
If you should find yourself in a situation like this, you should wear protective gear to cover your hands and face.
The best thing to do when dealing with a feral cat is to have animal control services or the humane society step in.
It is important to remember that a cat is not like a dog, and attacks are not its first line of defense, they generally prefer to run and hide.
You should always be aware of your surroundings: don’t provoke them, and don’t let your cats roam free, as that increases the chances of an attack.
Since cats are solitary animals, the ones untamed or undomesticated will never long for human interaction.
Hence, they are more likely to attack you if you try to tame them or confine them.
