Can you look out your window and see a cat now and then—or maybe often? It may be your own cat enjoying a sunny day on a grassy spot in your yard, a neighbor’s cat wandering through, or a skittish homeless cat seeking a meal or a safe place to cozy down. Sometimes a cat that’s allowed outdoor time will visit indoor cats and either stare through the window or even instigate a tussle. Many a window screen has been damaged by a pair of cats on opposite sides of it. We had a terrorist cat in our neighborhood who had a beef with our indoor cats. Thank heavens that family moved with the cat. We still have cats with homes who roam and they seem to get along with Sophie and Lily. And I enjoy watching them explore our yard and snooze on a deck chair.
Nice to know that these cats belong to neighbors and are being fed regularly. Some are 
allowed inside at night. But some cats aren’t as fortunate. They’ve been left behind or turned out or dropped off or they became lost and never found their way home and were too frightened to accept new humans. Some scavenge on their own until they die of starvation, an injury, an accident, poisoning, or a broken heart. Others meet up with an established colony of homeless cats and learn survival techniques from the elders in the colony. In any case, a homeless cat is not a freak of nature and the cat is not at fault. Behind every homeless cat there is a human to blame.
We have either abandoned the cat, neglected to have our cats spayed/neutered, allowed a cat to roam oblivious to the fact that it could be frightened away by a dog or a wild animal, wander too far and get lost, etc.
Keeping our spayed-neutered cats inside or supervised on a leash when outside are the best case scenarios for our cats’ safety and well being.
