Help! Neighbour trying to steal my cat!!

missbargain

Moggylover,

that was a great post, I agree with everything you said.

Also, it is interesting that lots of people here think that the "unfair lady" would not be paying the cost for the cat's vet bills if the cat got sick, etc. How do they know that?

I have adopted someone else's stray (per my post above) and am willingly paying hundreds of pounds in all the cat "inventories", vet bills and medicines, premium food, toys, cushions, blankets, you name it, he has it, because I love the cat.

The cat's previous owners live only two streets away, however, the cat never attempts to go back. I know because they tell me and she always eats and sleeps at home, and she is let out during the day, so I don't prevent her to wonder around, as I don't like to do that to the cat.

However, I am prepared to accept the fact that, being cat, one day she may up and go to some other home, perhaps even back to its old owners. It is just the risk everyone who owns the cat has to take. I will be heartbroken, but if it is to happen, I just hope that she is as loved, adored and cared for as she is with us. I will be forever grateful to have been given the opportunity to share such a wonderful creature that is my Zebs (Zebedy).
P.S.
He really is a boy, but for some reason I call all cats "she". Weird, I know....

missbargain

However, the objectionable part for me in whole this story is that the offending party seems not to want to listen to the requests for not feeding and enticing the cat. That, in my opinion, is very rude and selfish, but she may genuinelly believe in her heart that this cat has chosen her and is meant to be with her. People get attached to animals very quickly as I have discovered myself (and I never, ever was "a cat person", nor I ever had any desire to own a cat before Zebs appeared).
I remember the story that my vet (I mean, my cat's vet) has told me recently. He said that he used to have one cat coming with two different owners, and the owners didn't know about each other, but both were claiming to be the rightful owners of the cat.
One day, he had one owner bringing the cat in the morning, and the other owner bringing the same cat in the afternoon. This was before the time of chipping being common as today, so it was really hard to prove the ownership, and both people claimed that the cat was theirs. I guess it was the manipulative cat who got them in that position in the first place, hehe, smart creatures cats.

eira

Agree totally-it is the apparent attitude of the other person that got to me -especially the flea treatment -if they were that concerned why didn't they take the cat to the vet.Who knows if the cat you pick up as a stray has got a condition that needs treatment or allergies you know nothing about.And what about the owner ?


One of our moggies wandered off and did a 'I am a stray' at an assortment of neighbours.He eventually found somewhere he liked (huge conservatory, a daft dog he could beat up and an old gentleman whose lap he liked )The neighbours took him to the vet to check him and his chip.He was traced to us.it was obvious that he preferred them. But they offered to buy him (refused) asked for details of his vaccinations etc and insurance. They took over all the expenses and I 'signed him over' ownership wise. he still lords it over the conservatory and comes round every six weeks or so to sneer and go on his way. But they didn't feed him he just decided to move,
and they were really apologetic

I don't think the original poster has a downer on good hearted people who look out for strays or get adopted by cats. It's the woman's apparent attitude that is at fault. I agree with original poster -this has nothing to do with 'feeding a poor little stray'

missbargain

"a daft dog he could beat up":rotfl:

That is a really nice story (and quite hilarious, too), very similar as how I got my moggy.

I guess how we (and the owners) knew that he has chosen his new home is that, every time they came to pick him up, he would run away to our bedroom, and when caught, would meaow and resist going with them like crazy. You know, all four legs stuck to the floor, stiff, pulling away body, meaowing as if they were slaughtering him.
We all used to look at each other not knowing what to do, as it was a bit uncomfortable situation.
Anyway, I hope that you find the way of sorting out this issue with your neighbour, and don't forget to let us know what happened, we are all ears!

sleepymy

Switching a cat's diet can damage their stomachs leaving them needing medication for life, if the cat isn't using a litter tray for all their motions there's no way of knowing if he's having bouts of diarrhoea and with him being out door you don't know if he's vomiting regularly either.

Your neighbour is bang out of order, as is anyone who feeds a cat for any other reason than it's emaciated. My boy is a housecat, he has his run and has a little friend who visits him most days, she isn't allowed in the house and doesn't get food, only water on hot days.

I hope those people who think animals aren't property don't eat, wear or exploit any either.

I hope she heeds your letter and that your wee man moves back home soon!

eira

Don't want to hog space but just thought I'd add that our Siamese was actually stolen.One minute he was outside and the next he was gone. Anyway we spent 8 weeks looking for him-posters/vets/RSPCA helpline you name it. He turned up in a garden 10 miles away.He did look like a stray-lost, frightened , thin, flea ridden-and his nose was swollen and his claws were all but gone (the latter the vet guessed had come from trying to escape)But---and this is the big but--despite it looking for all the world as if he was a stray(and this would have been more than reasonable as there were no Siamese in the vicinity where he was found) the woman who found him reported it to the RSPCA. She thought some owner might be frantic at his loss. Because of his microchip and my poster we got him back. So she checked whether he was lost and he got a vet check-now that's what you do-or you contact the breed rescues/CPL/put posters up/ask around

Kimberley

sleepymy wrote: »

Your neighbour is bang out of order, as is anyone who feeds a cat for any other reason than it's emaciated. My boy is a housecat, he has his run and has a little friend who visits him most days, she isn't allowed in the house and doesn't get food, only water on hot days.

I hope those people who think animals aren't property don't eat, wear or exploit any either.

I agree. If I saw a strange cat in my garden I certainly wouldn't feed it because it's not mine unless it was a small kitten that looked too young to be outside on it's own.

smithyjules

Kimberley wrote: »

If it doesn't come back then it must have been i'll treated or not fed or had been run over or kept indoors by someone else etc etc..cats will come back if treated properly and fed well.

I send my understanding to the OP and feel the same way.
I have 2 comments to add

My well-loved and well-fed and thoroughly pampered mogg has been missing for 2 weeks on monday. This isn't the first time and generally he comes back and i find out he has temporarily re-homed himself down the road somewhere.It is very worrying and it's the not knowing that gets to me the most. SO with ref to Kimberley's post above i was a bit upset by the comment as i love my mog to bits. It does irritate me that people feed him when he is blatantly well-fed etc but i guess thats just how it is.If i found out he had been shut in somewhere i think i'd do my pieces!

Second comment (sorry for the epic!). My SIL has cats and a random scrawny black cat came begging for food one day. This continued for a week until she decided to do something about it. The cat was in really bad condition and walked like a little old man (hence the new name arthur-ritis). SIL brought a collar and a tag and put just her phone number on it and began to feed him. The previous owners then could call her if he returned home...When she took him to the vet he recognised him as belonging to an american family who had moved back to the states and obv left him. He was only young and didn't have arthur-ritis at all and is now fit and well and has a new home.

The whole area is so grey and these moggies often cause as much heart ache as they bring happiness.anyway rant over.

OP hope you can reach some way of going forward

missbargain

Also, it is "a bit" odd how the lady in question decided to lure the expensive Siamese cat in, and not other moggies hanging about her property.
Keep him in for a little while and feed him the most delicious premium food you can buy (cats are crazy for Science Hill dry food, I believe, and gourmet pouches). This may make him stick around better.

Kimberley

smithyjules wrote: »

SO with ref to Kimberley's post above i was a bit upset by the comment as i love my mog to bits. It does irritate me that people feed him when he is blatantly well-fed etc but i guess thats just how it is.If i found out he had been shut in somewhere i think i'd do my pieces!

I'm sorry if you were upset by my comments but I'm entitled to my opininon, if your cat didn't come home because someone had taken him/her in or had an accident then it's not your fault, that is not what I was saying. I was saying that a cat wouldn't wander off seeking food from elsewhere if they were fed before being let out. A cat won't take food from a stranger for food if it was not hungry, I know mine wouldn't. My oldest Bengal will not allow anyone to pick him up other then who he knows in the home.