Seems we have a cat....

Pollycat

I'm desperate for another cat - we lost our old boy almost 5 years ago - and OH says 'no'.

But if one turned up on the doorstep, I'm sure he'd change his mind if it wasn't micro-chipped.

Why do these cats always choose somebody else's house to want to move in to?

borkid

Have you considered the cat might have jumped in the back of an open delivery van and come from a fair distance off? None of my cats are microchipped, they come when called and are afraid of vehicles. We've had cats for over 40 years and apart from one instance after the intial vaccinations and neutering they are low maintanence.

Person_one

A mile isn't very far, put the poster up in your local shops that the people in your area and the surrounding areas use, even if it's a bit further than a mile. What about the local paper suggestion, have you looked into that?

Loads of elderly owners don't chip their cats, even if the vet recommends it.

What is it with cats that so many people see them as 'finders keepers' in a way they wouldn't with any other animal? It seems clear this one has an owner somewhere, probably very upset at the moment, if you don't want to bother trying too hard to find them, why ask for advice on here at all? Unless it's because you're hoping you'll be told it's fine to keep the cat and you're probably rescuing this poor (healthy, well fed) neglected animal from evil owners who don't love him anyway.

Pollycat

Person_one wrote: »

What is it with cats that so many people see them as 'finders keepers' in a way they wouldn't with any other animal? It seems clear this one has an owner somewhere, probably very upset at the moment, if you don't want to bother trying too hard to find them, why ask for advice on here at all? Unless it's because you're hoping you'll be told it's fine to keep the cat and you're probably rescuing this poor (healthy, well fed) neglected animal from evil owners who don't love him anyway.

I think in fairness to the OP it sounds like he's done a fair bit towards trying to find the owners.

If your comment is directed at my post, it was tongue-in-cheek.
If I thought it was fair on the cat, I'd be off to a rescue centre like a shot, but we have at least 3 holidays a year and I know it wouldn't be fair to put a rescue cat back into a cattery.

annandale

Just because the cat isn't chipped doesn't mean that the owners are elderly. The poster suggestion is a good one but even if the owner (elderly or otherwise) doesn't have Facebook, someone else might and might recognise the cat.

He's on the cat protection site. He's been added to the sites that you suggested. The Op also said that they'd do a leaflet drop over the coming week.

That's not someone who isn't trying to find the pets owners..

Any cat I've ever rescued, I've tried to reunite them with their owner (and one cat was straying for such a long period of time it was clear that people had moved on and left him behind because he spent weeks trying to get access to the block of flats they must have lived in).

But it's much harder when they don't have a micro chip.

I've also been in the situation where a family pet went missing. We put posters all over the town we lived in. We sadly only got notification that someone had taken our cat in when she died and the chip was scanned. We also logged her details with several missing pet sites and vets. We also put an advert in one of the local papers.

The people who took her in didn't see any of the posters or if they did they didn't respond to them.

I'll also say that it's as much the responsibility of the owner that's lost the cat to try and post that their cat is missing to try and get them back than it is the person who has found them.

suki1964

Person_one wrote: »

A mile isn't very far, put the poster up in your local shops that the people in your area and the surrounding areas use, even if it's a bit further than a mile. What about the local paper suggestion, have you looked into that?

Loads of elderly owners don't chip their cats, even if the vet recommends it.

What is it with cats that so many people see them as 'finders keepers' in a way they wouldn't with any other animal? It seems clear this one has an owner somewhere, probably very upset at the moment, if you don't want to bother trying too hard to find them, why ask for advice on here at all? Unless it's because you're hoping you'll be told it's fine to keep the cat and you're probably rescuing this poor (healthy, well fed) neglected animal from evil owners who don't love him anyway.

Trouble with cats is they choose where to live

The op has been to the rescues and they have said no room at the inn, you look after it please

The op has checked for a chip, there is none

The op has advertised the fact she has this kitten

The op lives in a small village where everyone knows everyone and yet no one knows of the cat


So what does she do until someone comes and makes a claim ( if they do at all ) chase it off her property?

How much time and money should she spend trying to find the owner?

Leaflet drops? Posters? All cost both in time and money

Ads in local papers? A huge cost

End of the day the original owners who love this kitten so much should A) had it microchipped and not allowed it out to roam

They are the ones who should be making the effort to find the kitten

annandale

The ad we put in the paper was free (not strictly speaking an ad, they agreed to put her pic in and a small paragraph about her) but that was only because of their goodwill.

Another local paper was going to charge 100 pounds minium for an advert.

To be fair cats can and do escape but social media is by far the best way to try and reunite a pet with its owner..The volume of shares a post can get in a short time period is more effective than an ad in the press that someone might not even buy.

With Facebook, if you don't have Internet it's likely that someone you know will.

This kitten could belong to someone of any age who hadn't got around to getting their cat chipped yet (or didn't want to).

And plenty of older people do have Internet.

Poppy3008

I agree with other posters - you are at least keeping him safe and cared for even if you eventually find him a home. I'd not bother too much with the injections unless you are planning to insure and have him in a cattery. I rarely insured my cats as any major accident / disease would result in their being put to sleep anyway. As happened on a Monday, sadly. I find cats rather cheap compared to dogs.

borkid

Person_one wrote: »

A mile isn't very far, put the poster up in your local shops that the people in your area and the surrounding areas use, even if it's a bit further than a mile. What about the local paper suggestion, have you looked into that?

Loads of elderly owners don't chip their cats, even if the vet recommends it.

What is it with cats that so many people see them as 'finders keepers' in a way they wouldn't with any other animal? It seems clear this one has an owner somewhere, probably very upset at the moment, if you don't want to bother trying too hard to find them, why ask for advice on here at all? Unless it's because you're hoping you'll be told it's fine to keep the cat and you're probably rescuing this poor (healthy, well fed) neglected animal from evil owners who don't love him anyway.

You mean the other way around don't you. Once the cat finds a good slave it stays. The slave has no choice

Person_one

borkid wrote: »

You mean the other way around don't you. Once the cat finds a good slave it stays. The slave has no choice

Nobody who has a cat they love that disappears and never comes back ever seems so delighted and amused by this idea.

I couldn't live with myself if I hadn't done absolutely everything within my power to try and reunite a clearly cared for animal with the person/people who had clearly cared for it.