The cat in your garden is friendly, well fed and happy to be stroked, and she has no collar. It is tempting to read that as a homeless cat adopting you, but friendly and well-kept usually means the opposite: she has a home nearby, people she trusts, and a garden round that now includes yours. The finder's task is to establish whether anyone is missing her before changing her life by feeding her into staying, taking her in, or handing her to a rescue.
Do Not Assume She Is Homeless
Ask around before you do anything permanent. Knock on the doors in your street, ask in any local group, and describe her without posting her photograph everywhere at once, so a genuine owner can describe her back to you. A neighbour's cat exploring can be streets from home and still entirely expected by her owner, who may not know she visits you at all. Watch her pattern too: a cat who appears at similar times, looks well groomed and leaves purposefully usually has somewhere to go.
If she is uninjured and free to leave, let her. Shutting her in, however kindly, can turn a visiting owned cat into a genuinely lost one and cause her owner real distress.
The Paper Collar and the Chip Scan
If she keeps returning and no neighbour knows her, fit a paper collar with your number written on it, asking any owner to call you. Use paper or a light breakaway-style strip that tears safely if it snags, fasten it so two fingers fit beneath it, and leave it on for several days, replacing it if it comes off. An owner who finds it will usually ring at once, relieved rather than annoyed, and one short call settles the question.
If the paper collar brings no reply, arrange a chip scan at a vet. Most practices will scan a found cat without charge. Understand what the scan does: a scan yields the chip number only, and the registry holds the contact record linked to that number, so the practice contacts the registry to reach the owner rather than reading details off the cat. Never publish the chip number itself in a lost or found post. If she has no chip and no claimant, talk to the vet and a local rescue about the right next steps for your area, and keep notes of who you asked and when.
What Not to Do, and What Helps Most
Resist adopting her yourself or passing her to a new home while an owner may still be searching, however attached you have become. Feed her only if she looks genuinely hungry or in poor condition, because regular feeding of a neighbour's cat, especially one on a managed diet, creates its own problems, and a full bowl at your house encourages her to stay away from hers. Photograph her for your own records, note when she visits, and keep any collar on her exactly as you found it.
Lost Pet Alert System in KinsLe works both ways for a finder too, putting word out to owners nearby while giving you a direct route to message the owner once contact is established.