Cat has moved out!

LilacPixie

my neighbours cat visits me too. Difference is I know he is well fed and looked after.. the cat is just a chancer

bagginslover

If you want her back, simply ask the neighbours not to feed her. She will then have no choice but to come back to you for food, or to find it for herself, lets face it, cats are lazy, and so will probably take the easier option

It sounds to me that your neighbours want a cat, without the responsibilty, and thats what you are giving them. They get the cats affection, and all the joys of owning a cat, but don't have to pay a penny for its food or vets bills. If it were me I'd be telling them to not let it in, or to adopt it outright and start paying for it.

I am a cat owner before anyone says I'm being harsh, this is exactly what I'd do if it were my cats.

geri1965_2

I've been on both sides of this.

Many years ago now, when I still married to my ex, we noticed that Spook was hardly ever at home, and when she did come in she was stinking of cigarette smoke, so we knew she had been spending her time elsewhere! This went on for about a year, then one day she came home with a little note on her collar, which read "Spook has been spending a lot of time in our house, but we are moving soon and just wanted to check if she will be OK." My ex was very cross and wrote a note back saying "She will be fine, please stop feeding her and then she might actually spend some time in her own home!"

From then on she spent much more time with us until the year before last when she was put to sleep (from cancer - often wondered if the passive smoking contributed to this).

Last year we kind of adopted our neighbour's two cats - they were hardly ever at home, and had no cat flap, so they were left out in all weathers with no shelter or food. At first we just left the shed open for one of them, but then the other worked out how to use our cat flap so we would often get up in the morning and find him inside. After that we started letting both of them in, and whilst I suspect one of them was a bit of a wanderer who visited loads of houses for food, the other one made himself at home and I think he genuinely thought of our house as his home. The neighbours knew where they were, and if we heard them calling for them we would always scoot them out of the house so they could go in their proper home.

I was worried about getting too attached to them because I knew the owners might move at any time (rented) but my OH was convinced that if they moved they wouldn't bother to take them anyway.

One day last year my OH rang me at work to say that the neighbour had turned up at the door with a cat basket asking for them, as they were moving out that day, and I never saw them again I really was heartbroken and I still miss them and wonder where they are.

OP, in your situation I would continue to treat the cat as yours as you are responsible for it unless the other people agree to take over the responsibility.

rippedoff3

Thought you may be interested in the outcome..

Decided to go for it and approach them about it and they were very apologetic admitting they are feeding her,and there she was prancing around liked she owned the place. She asked to take full responsibility for her and i agreed, at least now we all know where we stand and my other cat will be queen. thanks for the advice

hcb42

I think most cats have another home somewhere. My persian hardly ever comes home if we are away (neighbours feeding) although he comes home most mornings.

Likewise, I have had a few move in over the years too.