Seems we have a cat....

borkid

Person_one wrote: »

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.

I do think the OP is trying their best.

My OH volunteers at a cats rescue centre and they take great pains to reunite but sometimes it's just not meant to be.

Pollycat

borkid wrote: »

My OH volunteers at a cats rescue centre and they take great pains to reunite but sometimes it's just not meant to be.

Really?
You couldn't get her to drop off a ginger tom on my doorstep, could you?

Only joking - see my posts #12 & 15.

borkid

Pollycat wrote: »

Really?
You couldn't get her to drop off a ginger tom on my doorstep, could you?

Only joking - see my posts #12 & 15.

Bit too far away;). All homes are carefully vetted. OH is male.

FreeBear

borkid wrote: »

Bit too far away;). All homes are carefully vetted. OH is male.

Shouldn't be a problem if he is neutered, chipped, and up to date with vaccinations.

borkid

FreeBear wrote: »

Shouldn't be a problem if he is neutered, chipped, and up to date with vaccinations.

What a rare creature that would be. Vaccinations and chipping ( all men like chips don't they) would be OK but the neutering ...mmmmmm :rotfl:

thriftyemma

We were 'adopted' by a stray. He came in our open back door one warm evening, and stole some leftover meat off the counter. He kept sneaking back in whenever the door was open.
He looked so scrawny and pathetic, in the end we put some cat food outside the door. He was very timid, so the plan was to befriend him enough to be able to capture him and take him to a vet.
After a week or so, he was comfortable enough with us to let us pick him up. We managed to get him to the vet, who found he had a microchip (and a LOT of fleas!). The owners were contacted, they were ecstatic to know he'd been found. He'd been missing for 3 months, and he was more than 4 miles from home. The vet guessed he'd jumped on an open lorry, or truck, and hitched a ride.
The point is, your lost cat could be miles from home. I'd suggest postering even further afield if you can. I agree with other posters, fostering him for a little while needn't be expensive. Some food, some fresh water, and shelter will be enough for now. Good luck OP.

Snuggles

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.

As a cat owner, this has to be one of the most unbelievable comments I've ever seen on this site. Cats wander, get lost, get into vans, etc. Any responsible owner who wants the best chance of getting their cat back if it goes missing would have it microchipped. Or at least put up posters, do leaflet drops, post on Facebook etc to try to find it. The onus is on the owner to do everything in their power to get their pet back. The OP has already done a lot more than many people would to try to find this cat's owner.

Pop_Up_Pirate

ed67812 wrote: »

...
We are a 2 kid, 3 dog household and in the process of having some work done. We leave our garage door open because the tumble drier is temporarily housed there and the moisture needs to escape.

A cat has moved into the garage about 4 days ago. As soon as I went into the garage from the house, or out of the front door, he'd be there meowing and rubbing his head on me. He has been locked out of the garage for a day but went nowhere, just hung out under our car. It poured down and he just remained.

We checked with cats protection, local vets etc. nobody has reported a similar cat missing. There aren't many houses in our village, everyone knows everyone and he isn't a neighbours. We aren't cat people particularly but are animal people. As we couldn't get him to the vets until the next day, the fact he looked like a kitten and the weather, we let him in the garage in an old dog bed and fed him. We decided to feed him because we thought he would either be microchipped and we'd quickly get him home or he wasn't and it might take a while - we didn't want to not feed him if he was too young to be successfully hunting etc.

Anyhow, he has no microchip, there has been no response to our widely shared Facebook post, there are still no reports of a similar missing cat, there are no posters we have seen in the area and further afield. So we're stuck.......

Vet thinks that he is only 4 months old and shouldn't normally be out of his house. He clearly isn't stray given his condition and has not been neutered. He is a lovely cat and even I will admit he is cute. I'm at a loss how we'll find out where he came from as the old owners couldn't be bothered to get him microchipped. My 3year old girl knows that he is on his holiday with us and that he needs to go back to his mummy soon. However, the longer this goes on the more attached she will get - she got so excited when she saw him. She does love cats.

Cats protection say that they are working through a backlog of cats to re-home and ideally he should stay here until they have capacity.

We have considered keeping him but there are the costs implications of this and issues should the original owners (who on current evidence don't know or care that he is gone) are located.

Anyone got any thoughts on the situation? Any other ideas to trace the owners?

Cats are roamers. They wander. Sometimes for days.
They will find warm spaces to sleep in and might appear to be there 24/7 to an onlooker.
But. he is likely to have a home.

By feeding it, you are encouraging it to stay AWAY from its home.
It is not your cat to feed.

Stop feedng him, close the garage door and he will find his way home without any problems.

Pop_Up_Pirate

Snuggles wrote: »

As a cat owner, this has to be one of the most unbelievable comments I've ever seen on this site. Cats wander, get lost, get into vans, etc. Any responsible owner who wants the best chance of getting their cat back if it goes missing would have it microchipped. Or at least put up posters, do leaflet drops, post on Facebook etc to try to find it. The onus is on the owner to do everything in their power to get their pet back. The OP has already done a lot more than many people would to try to find this cat's owner.

The owner may not be aware that the cat is missing.
If the cat is coming back at dinnertime every day, eats its dinner and then goes out again, but is back again each and every day, why would they even consider it missing?

It's other people who 'find' cats who think they are missing.

Pop_Up_Pirate

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.

Completely agree.

We have a cat in our garden all the time. Now I say all the time because he is there everytime I look out of the window. He sits under the apple tree where there is a lot of long grass, and I assume he finds that a nice spot to sleep away his day.
What he does at night, who knows. I'm asleep then, but I also have to assume that that is the time he saunters home for a bite to eat and then comes back to my garden for his daytime snooze.

Cats are nocturnal. Often like to sleep and stay put during the day, and the OPs 'cat' probably likes the tumble dryer warmth, and then at night, pays a visit back home.

OP, Leave the cat alone. It doesn't belong to you.