Stray cat
A cat with no household — a wary creature that chose the street over being kept.
A stray cat in a dream is the dream's image of a wary creature that chose the street over being kept. The stray accepts food at a distance and does not move in. The dream brings the stray when something in your life — a person, a part of yourself, a freedom — is willing to receive ordinary kindness but is not willing to be domesticated by it. A stray that eats and stays near the porch is the dream affirming that the small care is welcome on the cat's terms. A stray you trap and bring inside, only to have it tear at the door, is the dream noting that the kindness, applied as ownership, has become the cage the creature was originally avoiding.