is it a bad idea to feed a stray?

[Pops!]

gentlemen,

as many of you know.. i have now made a huge change in my life.. i've moved out of los angeles.. where i was living a very solitary and bleak life.. mostly out of a suitcase and living day to day.. feeding myself from paycheck to paycheck..

now i'm up in the redwood shores of california.. living the good life.. i have been fortunate enough to move into a great life with a very good friend of mine.. we have adopted 2 very loving kittens and are quite happy...

the area we live in is surrounded by wildlife.. lots of ducks, geese, quall, i even spotted a giant 30 lb swan the other day..

anyway.. i have a tendency to stay up late and enjoy srp with a few of the finer things in life.. at night i like to have a few drinks and enjoy a rollup cigarette of balishag with chocolate papers out on the patio... the last few nights i have gone out to the patio to see a giant all black cat hanging around our patio... this guy is huge.... must be at least 15 lbs..

tonight is the third night in a row i have seen him on our patio.. the last few nights he has scattered off as soon as i've opened the sliding glass door.. however.. tonight i came out and he was sound asleep on one of our patio chairs.. he didn't even look up when i came out.. i smoked an entire cigarette and he did nothing.. so for some silly reason i went inside and scooped up a tupperware of catfood..

when i placed it on the table he jumped up and started wolfing if down.. and i mean he really scarfed it down.. almost like he was starving to death.. i'm somewhat nervous with him being so large and obviously wild.. he even grabbed a mouthful and started chewing it while walking towards me.. he seems very accepting of my kindness.. but at the same time.. he is so huge and frightening.. he's all black.. so much to the point that i'm unable to get a picture of him.. the only colour is his all white whiskers and his deep yellow eyes..

i'm somewhat afraid of him to get too close.. is it a bad idea for me to feed him? will i attract other animals? also.. should i be worried about him attacking me for whatever reason.. this cat is honestly in the 15 plus pounds range..

advice?

[Nightblade]

Well.......if he's not hurting you then what's the problem? Stay with it and see what happens.You may have been given a good friend wild or not.And wild cats can be made house cats again over time.take it slow and don't be afraid of him.That was a good thing you did..he was probably starvin man.Take for what it is. Unless you don't want him?? Yeah,i'll be off and on tonight so I'll be checkin eh. Good choice of names.....I am a Leo after all ha ha !

[roughkype]

If he's that big, he's eating OK somewhere. If you leave food out unattended, then yes you'll attract all sorts of critters. You may want to encourage him to hang around; he's probably keeping a lot of other stuff away.

I lived in a camper for a year while working away from home, and fed several stray cats beneath it. A couple of years later, I had it parked at another job site with no cats around. That was when I had the mouse infestation.

Enjoy your company. If he wants distance, give it to him. If he wants closeness, accept it. If he lets you, take him to the vet for a checkup.

I have a 19-lb cat who's a love glutton.

[Pops!]

thanks for the advice guys.. the thing is.. it's not like he's big from having lots of food.. this guy is f wording huge.. he is seriously big.. but still hungry.. i almost think he might be part bobcat or some other type of larger cat.. he is very lean.. but also really large.. just huge in stature..

my main thing is.. i don't want to feed a wild animal and be susceptible to attack.. or also.. i don't want to attract other wild animals.

i can very clearly and often see racoons all over the place.. i see them in the trees right outside the patio and also on several occasions have seen them in the dumpsters..

so i don't want to attract them for sure.. is this giant cat something i should try and shoo away?

[Shoki]

Make sure your cats have all their shots. If you are going to take responsibility for this cat you should probably think about getting it to the vet for shots and a check up. I am not any kind of expert but I have seen kittens get sick and die before... It was terrible.

--Shoki

[Sailor]

If you start feeding the wildlife they become very soon used to it. Then you can't stop anymore as they've gotten accustomed with it.
So keep feeding that big black fellow of yours and you soon have a friend of a lifetime.
Remember that it also takes some time before wild animals get familiar with human being close. Do not hurry, do not go to cat. Let the cat come to you.
When i was in the army we used to feed fox cubs and raccoon dogs. Pretty soon they became domestic, almost like dogs.

[Nightblade]

I would be curious now to see a pic of this big fella.Try if you can eh?

[JimmyHAD]

At the old tattoo shop I worked at for 15 years we had an alley adjacent to a large lot that was essentially overgrown and wilderness. Raccoons and stray cats were there in abundance. One of my co-workers and I are cat lovers and began feeding the strays.

We had up to a dozen at a time and found homes for some. We would trap them, take them to a friendly vet and have them 'fixed' and then return them to the alley. I ended up adopting one and my buddy ended up with three. Feral cats are generally difficult to fully domesticate. They will always be skittish and will usually only become comfortable around those that feed them.

Exceptions are those who had been house cats for their early life but were either abandoned or ran away to the stray life. My cat, Rambunctious, is one of those exceptions. We've been together for three years and he is great.

My friend's three cats are the true, born in the wild, feral cats. They head for the closets or under beds or the couch if anyone comes over his house. It takes quite awhile for a feral or a stray to be comfortable with nibbling rather than 'wolfing' down their food. They are so used to having to compete with others for whatever food they find. I was very pleased when my cat finally began to feel comfortable that the food would always be there.

Here is a website with more info and if you get into it pick up "The Stray Cat Handbook" from Amazon or wherever.

[VeeDubb65]

If you leave food out unattended, then yes you'll attract all sorts of critters. You may want to encourage him to hang around; he's probably keeping a lot of other stuff away.

Make sure your cats have all their shots.

Those bits are really worth repeating.

[Catrentshaving]

Believe it or not this guy was a stray..well, until he was about 4 months old that is. We used to have an old Momma that hung out around the yard where I used to work and every year she'd have a litter and theyd all seek shelter in one of the storage sheds around. A friend of mine and I would feed them just because we're big sucks and animal lovers..lol. Then one year we decided we can't keep doing this every year and that we'd better try and catch them and take them to the SPCA to give them a chance of finding a home..they were elusive little buggers and for some reason this is the only one we caught. He'd never been touched by a human before but we sat there deciding who was gonna take him in and he fell asleep right on me. I decided that I couldn't do it...he found a home with me He's stuck around when no one else has and been through everything with me, even gone on holidays and camping. So I guess in some way...if you feed them...ya, they'll stick around...lol. But it may be one of the coolest things to ever happen