Guest post by Madolline Gourley, traveling cat sitter from Brisbane, Australia.

I’d only been in town for a few hours when I heard a loud meow coming from downstairs. I wasn’t sure if I was hearing things, or if it was one of the two cats I was tasked with looking after, but I went to investigate.

The meow didn’t belong to Rio or Luna, the sibling duo I was here to care for, but it was coming from a third cat who really wanted my attention.

PHOTO: MADOLLINE GOURLEY

Kitty had climbed over the back fence into the courtyard, and I thought maybe he/she belonged to one of the neighbours. I messaged the lady I was house and cat sitting for and asked if she was comfortable with the cat being in her yard.

"I’ve literally never seen that cat before," the reply read.

I remember thinking, "So what am I going to do now…?"

PHOTO: MADOLLINE GOURLEY

It was obvious kitty had been living rough for some time, and I could feel matted hair all over its body. He/she didn’t appreciate me touching its manky-looking tail but sure loved being petted everywhere else.

I decided to bring out a bit of dry food, and the kitty wolfed it down. A friend suggested I also put out a bowl of water, but kitty was more interested in eating. I put out a second helping because I could tell it’d been a good while between decent meals.

PHOTO: MADOLLINE GOURLEY

The same friend told me to post a picture of the kitty to a community Facebook page. My post received a lot of attention, with four or five people thinking it could be their cat. It racked up 100 comments within 24 hours. Amy, a Good Samaritan from the community Facebook page, offered to take the kitty to an after hours vet clinic for a microchip scan. This would help us to identify the rightful owner since there was a handful of people who were convinced the kitty was theirs.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a microchip. Amy told me the kitty was going to be taken to a local cat shelter where it’d be held for seven days before going up for adoption.

PHOTO: MADOLLINE GOURLEY

Amy and I spent the following Friday night distributing "Do you recognise this cat?" flyers (designed and printed by Amy) around the neighbourhood, hoping we could locate the kitty’s owner.

We don’t know if the grey kitty’s owner has made contact with the Cat Haven rescue, but I wouldn’t hesitate to adopt him/her if I lived in Perth. It’s almost like this kitty knew I — the cat-loving traveller — was on the other side of the fence that Sunday night and he/she picked the right time to climb it.

This story was written by Madolline Gourley. Read more about her cat sitting travels on her blog, One cat at a time.