Thank you for caring about this little guy! Its very possible that this is someone's lost cat - even tame cats can often revert to feral behavior when displaced or lost - and indeed most lost cats that arent found or looked for just eventually get absorbed into the feral population. And yes, lost cats can survive, months, years on their own. The crying makes me think he might have become lost..... or maybe is being really neglected by some other people in the neighborhood.... Ive had those sorts as neighbors - idiots that just forget and leave the cat out for extended periods of time - even once when they went on a long vacation. Or is he a "she," in heat? Is it that kind of crying?

If you have a feral cat organization in your neck of the woods contact them about trapping/neutering and they should be able to determine if the cat had once been tame or if truly a feral - if the latter he would be snarling and taking your arm off, whereas a once tame cat will behave differently. Cats have to be handled in kittenhood to tame them, if they're not they never will be friendly. If truly feral, he would just be neutered and returned to his turf. If friendly, you would be able to a) check lost cat reports from the last year, craiglist listings, etc., b) get him scanned by vet to see if he has a chip, c) find him a new home (since your local shelter sounds like it may be pretty useless in that regard). Ive never had trouble finding a GOOD home word of mouth amongst friends/acquaintances.

Another approach would be to yes just go ahead and make him an outdoor shelter (there are all kinds of ideas out there including some made out of large lidded rubbermaid tubs with insulation, providing food/water with small heater, From there once he sees you as provider of food he may drop his feral behavior and then you would know whether you'd want to continue just caring for him as an outdoor cat or find him a new home.

Best to you

I second everything kashka_kat said. There is a feral cat population in my neighborhood and I got helped by the local group Feral Fixers that work in DuPage County (probably others around here too). We did eight cats a couple of years ago... six kittens and their two mothers. The mothers were ferals that got released, the kittens were socialized and adopted... three of them by me! My kitties mama is our resident feral now and sleeps in our garage, but doesn't want to be a pet. I also have boxes outside for her and a few others that come around.

The TNR group helps with trapping and transporting cats to PAWS in Chicago where they do low cost spay/neuter and vet care (vaccines, wormer, etc.) for these homeless cats. The cat can be scanned for an existing microchip also to check for an owner. Homeless cats that are deemed friendly often will go shelters or fosters to be adopted. Truly feral cats get ear-tipped (to indicate they are already neutered and cared for) and released. The ferals can do well here with the help of an insulated shelter box and a source of food and fresh water over the winter. When they are outdoors all year they get a nice thick coat and with enough food put on some winter weight too. There are lots of easy and cheap feral shelter plans online. It may be getting a bit too late to spay/neuter and release a feral this year due to the cold though.

Don't make the mistake of just putting food and shelter out for this cat with no attempt to ever trap it to see if it is neutered. Well meaning people who feed but don't neuter are just making the feral cat population worse. Putting out food and shelter may attract other cats as well. That is what happened in our neighborhood. I thought there was just one skinny little cat and gave her some food and built a shelter. Then a few months go by and she's pregnant... and oh now there is yet another cat with kittens in the box that I didn't even know existed! The TNR group said there was at least one known cat hoarder around here that moved and left all these cats behind. They spread out, fought over turf, and continued breeding. All the while getting fed by well meaning suckers...err...people all over town. :)

Good for you and THANK YOU for caring about a homeless kitty.

PAWS is top notch, professionally run, good charity ratings, great reputation in the Chicago area. (Disclaimer: Am in Chgo area and do volunteer feline rescue/shelter work.). If they cannot help you, they may have some good referrals.

I believe the following 3 are in Lake County area.

Please keep in mind most are volunteer run and depend on donations and volunteers. When someone said to me, "I will make a $200 donation to your group if you would teach me how to give a cat a pill," I made sure I was available to teach her, at a time that worked best for her. Would have done it even without the donation, but it would have been at a time that worked best for me. Not saying you need to bribe, but if you can offer help (making photocopies, washing bedding, donating food) in return for them helping you, may find your request moved up on the list.

http://feralfelineproject.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FatCatRescue/info/?tab=page_info

http://www.spayandstay.org/our-process/

Alley Cat Allies has a lot of good information on feral cat care.

phttp://news.alleycat.org/?gclid=CMKD9Ne3iskCFRApaQodnm4Ggw

Thank you to everyone who responded. We have finally been able to approach the cat. He definitely was once a domestic cat because he is so happy when we pet him and purrs loudly. He is very healthy and very strong. I set up a warming bed in my shed and put it inside an oversized litterbox with a flap door. Also put water in there and lured him in with a can of tuna. This was last night. After we got him to go inside the litterbox with the warming bed to eat the tuna, we left the shed and he followed us to our back door. He then sat at the back door for three hours looking in through the glass and meowing (begging) to come in. My inside dog and cat sat there and stared at him through the door. My 20-year-old daughter is very attached to animals and he took to her immediately in the shed. I think it's her that he wants to get by. It was heartbreaking watching him cry at the back door but he finally walked away and we're hoping he went back to the warming bed in the shed. Since he will allow my daughter to pick him up, I think our next move is to take him to the vet and see if he has a chip and get him checked out for worms and parasites. I'm hoping they will offer to neuter him as he is a homeless animal. We're torn about letting him stay in the shed for the winter or bringing him in but since he's so much younger and stronger than our older cat, this makes me nervous. Plus who's to say he is litterbox trained?? My older son is allergic to cats but has symptoms only when he touches our older cat, so he avoids doing so. But there are some people's homes that have multiple cats that he can't even spend five minutes in without having horrible symptoms and needing his inhaler. It would be a terrible shame to take this cat in only to have to release him because my son's allergies flare. We're really not sure what to do.

How heartbreaking that must have been to watch him meowing at the back door. :(

You've done well so far but I I would suggest also placing a litterbox filled with litter inside the shed and see if he starts to use it.

I think you're doing the right thing to get him/her to the vet and checked out, but I would also take a photo of the cat and ask all your neighbors about him/her. Since he seems to be in good health it's possible he's being fed and living in someone's barn/shed during the worst weather. Case in point: there was a very shy cat that would come thru our yard but since he looked healthy and never stayed long I didn't worry too much about him. A year later I found out it was our neighbor's pet and she would close him in the barn at night to keep him safe from the coyotes (we live in a semi-rural area). He initially was a stray that she started feeding.

Not sure what the outcome will be with your son's allergies, but IMO it's a very good sign that both your cat and dog just sat and watched the new cat thru the door. I think if your cat had an issue with the 'stray' she would have been attacking the door (at least my cat would have). If you decide to bring him in, go thru the usual steps of keeping him in a separate room while everyone adjusts.

While you're at the vet, ask if they have a bulletin board you can post to.......hopefully someone can take the cat in if you can't keep it.

Can you post a pic?

You may want to call local police departments and shelters to see if anyone lost their pet and called them. Police departments often have designated places where they animals (and they can tell you that location), so we advise people to always call those places if they have lost a pet.

One place in Lake County, Riverwoods, IL is Orphans of the Storm. Adopted one of my kitties from there. His history was - he was "brought in by police as a stray. " I called him Rover and joked he "was picked up by the police and put in jail."

I see too may "lost cat" signs posted. Yours may be a lost kitty.

Good work OP! So he's not neutered then? Yeah that would certainly explain why he's roaming around on his own. By this point he may or may not have a home base. Both my cats weren't neutered until they were about 3 or 4 years of age, after they were picked up as strays and before they were adopted out. One of them very well may have been on his own for most or all of his adult life - he was trapped along with an entire colony of feral cats and then adopted out when he was found to be friendly. Both of them are the mellowest most loving fellows ever - its like the ones that have been on their own are most appreciative when they finally get a home.

I often wonder what my cats' stories are! Wish they could tell me but I'll never know.

Re allergies there are ways of controlling cat dander - it takes work but may be quite doable. The multi cat households you cite may or may not be representative of what two cats in your house would be like. Although granted having to use an inhaler sounds like a pretty serious allergy.

Youre right no point in calling anyone for help. You never know if they’ll euthanize the poor kitty. I did this following hack with few cats I feed. put a table in yard(Preferabbly one side is aagainst a wall) put a blanket (any throw or fur blanket )on it then a clear plastic (you can even use plastic shower curtains )so the blamket doesn’t get wet and something to hold it all down like a metal chair on top of table. Under the table :put a plastic storage container (this so bed won’t get wet from bottom )and cat cushion bed. The cat will be So happy😸😸😸😸

Omgosh this was 5 years ago. what happened ??