what would you do?

my2monkeyboys wrote: We recently had a small cat (about 4-5 mths old I guess) wander up to my MIL's house. She hangs around all the time and we've started taking food up there for her. Well, DH and I have fallen in love with her. She's the sweetest little thing!!!
I'd love to bring her home, but I'm sure she must belong to some one, seeing as how tame she is. I am a little worried though bc the road my MIL lives on is pretty heavily trafficked. It is in a neighborhood area so there is no telling who's cat she is or I would ask them if I could have her. My MIL says that since she has no collar then we could take her with no guilt, but I just don't know.
So what you do?

grapfruit replied: Put up a "found" poster w/o a picture (have whoever calls describe the cat). Cats are a dime a dozen, so you prob won't get a call unless the kitty belongs to a child. Sadly, it's prob just a cast of from a cat that had babies...

mom2my2cuties replied:
I agree.

There are some cats that are just tame by nature. And sadly there are alot of people out there who just dump kittens after they are weaned.

msoulz replied: I am thinking if she has no collar then she is yours - but I am selfish so perhaps there is a better way . . . why not put a collar on her with a note and see what comes back? If she returns without the collar and/or note then she probably belongs to someone. Just a crazy thought!

Edited to correct spelling again . . .

grandma replied: I agree about putting up a found sign. Doesn't sound like anyone is missing her too much right now.....

my2monkeyboys replied: I have thought about the "found" poster, but I would actually need to bring her home with me otherwise the "owner" may not realize I'm talking about their cat. If I bring her home and then get a call I'm afraid it would cause unnecessary sadness in my little boy.
Maybe I will try the collar thing -- that way if she does have and go to a home they can decide whether they really want her or not.
Thanks for the ideas!

austins mom replied: I have to agree. Put up the posters and if no one claims her keep her.

mysweetpeasWil&Wes replied: Put up a sign and let your MIL keep her until someone contacts you. This way your son won't be disappointed if someone calls.

my2monkeyboys replied: Unfortunately she doesn't want the cat at all... she's not much of an animal person.
I may just bring her home though if she's there when we go by again today. I'll post a few "found" posters and just explain to Will that if someone else owns her that we'll have to give her back.
I mentioned the collar thing to my DH and he said, well what if she loses the collar somehow before she goes back home? We had a cat when I was younger that always got out of his collars, so he made a good point.
Thanks for the help! If we end up getting/keeping her I'll post a pic -- she's so cute!!

my2monkeyboys replied: Well at 8 this morning the cat was still hanging around my MIL's, so we brought him home. DH went by a few neighbor's houses and asked if he belonged to anyone and no one claimed him. We figure if who ever owns him really wants him back then they'll post a lost sign, and if they do we'll return him. I figure he's fairly young, as yesterday in a darker room we thought he was a girl, but today at home I can see the starting of little ballies. I think we've decided to name him Dexter. Our dog Charlie is so excited he won't leave him alone, but the cat isn't that thrilled over the dog -- at least not when the dog is actually paying attention to him. When Charlie is minding his own business though the cat watches him and even swats at his tail some!
I'll post a pic of him when I can -- he's pretty cute!

Calimama replied:
Dexter is such a cute name!!

CantWait replied: I'd take her, it's obvious someone isn't looking out for her, or at the very least doesn't care enough to put a coalor and tags on.

I just read down, enjoy your new kitty. Feel no guilt.

A&A'smommy replied: awwww that is how I have gotten 2 of my 3 cats that i have had in my lifetime usually they are either abandoned kitties

grapfruit replied:
I think that'll be fine! I'm sure nobody will come forward. My thought, if Dexter belonged to somebody then he'd have a collar or not be outside.

Oh, btw, do you have show time? There's a GREAT show called Dexter....but it's about a serial killer...that only kills killers. It's REALLY good (I'm hooked). Defiantly R rated though, lots of blood. But it's really smart, and you can't help but to like Dexter. It just reminded me of it.

Danalana replied: This is just the hopeless animal lover in me, but I say keep it!
I couldn't bear letting it stay out and possibly getting run over. That's just me, though...I hope it all works out!