unsure if cat is stray or just underfed/mistreated by owners

yesterday i took a walk around my neighborhood and came across this cat. it was just sitting on someone's driveway and didn't seem to be scared of people. when i bet down it walked over and started doing that cat thing where they rub their face all over you. i noticed that it was extremely skinny. i couldnt really tell before cuz it had kinda long hair, so it didn't look skinny. like i could feel his spine? and his ribs. it was just sticking out a lot. he was literally skin and bones. and his fur was dry af. super coarse. it felt like someone's bleached hair. dead hair. but he wasn't matted or anything? maybe he's doing a good job at cleaning himself.

and this is something else i noticed; i'm not sure if it's anything urgent but his paws are unusually round. they just don't look normal. then again, maybe his paws just look like that

the next day (today) i went out to walk and saw him again. in the same place. i actually brought some food along in case he was there again and he wolfed it down.

i'm just really torn rn.

-

signs that someone owns him:

his fur isn't matted (unless he's cleaning himself a lot)

(but if the owners are brushing him then shouldn't they be feeding him too?)

he's always in front of the same house

signs that he's a stray:

extremely skinny/underfed (this is my main pointer. if someone owns him they shouldn't be neglecting him)

coarse fur?

-

i don't know what i should do right now.

i don't really want to take him to the vet to see if he's microchipped cuz if he's actually someone's pet then i'd technically be a cat thief.

like i could knock on the door of the house he's always in front of and see if it's their's? or someone else's?

if he's a stray we'll probably relocate him to our street and have him get used to everything and all.

at least he'll be fed then.

(i've checked the lost cat websites and haven't seen any posters abt a missing cat that matches his description.)

submitted by /u/Wise_Guess_7312
[link] [comments]

from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/oxkylg/unsure_if_cat_is_stray_or_just_underfedmistreated/