Help! Sad kitty at my door :(

cinderellacomplex

I just read this one through (extreme work avoidance!) and I am so sorry about Guinness It sounds like you are a very caring couple though, and speaking as someone on the other side of the fence (one of my cats is a roamer!) I'd just like to say thanks for being so cautious about encouraging him at first. My cat starting wandering around christmas 2008 because one family saw him in their garden a little too often and started feeding him even though he was a perfectly healthy weight already. I found them eventually and talked to them, but he has it in his head now to go into other people's gardens/houses to see what's on offer. At one point his weight got so bad that I had to keep him indoors for two months straight just to put him on a diet, but I really don't want to stop him going outside permanently. Collars are no use because he gets them caught in bushes etc within minutes of leaving the garden.

There is not much that I can do really, he is very happy to be here when he is here.. but apparently he's just as happy to be other places. It just gets a little annoying that I am the one yelling for him and worrying about him on cold nights when someone else has clearly let him into their house!

Just on the off chance that someone around here actually lives close to me.. PLEASE DON'T FEED THIS CAT!! (Big one, but either really! :rotfl:)

Lokolo

Also - what is with the lack of catflaps??

kataklysm

Thanks guys! Well Dr Gonzo appears to be doing well, it's been a week or so since his op, and we're letting him out again, he's a bit calmer, eating slower, and has even shown some interest in playing with things which is brilliant. We're still keeping Pumpkin in though. He doesn't seem to care too much right now, but as we're scared of losing him too, we're hoping to invest in a containment fence of some kind for the warmer months so he can get some fresh air but stay safe. Ok, it's slightly crazy and he never roamed as far as Guinness liked to, but he's a dappy sod and having learnt the hard way (:() we think it's sensible to take some more precautions.

They seem to be getting on ok-ish, Pumpkin still follows Gonzo everywhere, and is being a bit of a bully, guarding doorways etc..but then Gonzo goes out every evening and a few hours later comes back for food, so he can't think it's that bad

Cinderella, you're so right, I'd hate to be accused of 'stealing' someone's cat even if we had the best intentions, as I know just how upsetting it is when it happens to your own. I wonder how many people like us are out wandering the streets at 1am shaking a bag of food to get their cats in!! Maybe people need to be made more aware of what to do when they think they've found a stray, if it wasn't for this site, we probably would have done the same as everyone else: assumed he had a home, or just thought it best to ignore him.

Oh and re the lack of cat flaps :rotfl: we have glass patio doors and the only other place one could go is in the front door... I think a lot of owners feel happier supervising their outside time and establishing a routine anyway, it's not really good to let kitties wander all day and night, statistically, they tend not to live so long that way..

YorkiePud_3

*LOL* you will have to do what I did when I took in a cat that was badly injured! After numerous posters on lamp posts, through letterboxes and postcards in the supermarkets didn't bring her owner I decided to keep her. Having no road sense though and having been told the other cats sought her out to fight with her, I had a large cat run built onto the conservatory so she could be in the conservatory and still go outside onto the lawn in safety ... best of both worlds and she loves it!

You get to my conservatory via the glass patio doors too, so this was the only way I could do it! She wasn't settled to come in the house but loved to be in the conservatory and on days like today she can go into the run and come back in when she wants (that's when her staff - me - bring dinner for her!)

Little_Chicken

Glad things are improving Kat - good on you for hanging in there. LCxxx