Moral dilemma

Artytarty · 21 July 2019 at 11:13AM

I'm interested to hear your views please, I appreciate I will get vary responses from no, he's not your cat to yes, you must help!

Background.
About six months ago I became aware of a black cat passing through our front garden.i know my neighbours all around, not theirs, it's a busy road.
I have two cats myself, confined to house with access to secured back garden.

Cat appeared more frequently, looking in through windows.
I ignored it , in fact shooed it away as it was upsetting my boys.
Kept coming back and looking thinner by the day.
Was around early in morning and still about at nightfall.

Don't see it for a week or two.

Cat comes back and it starts again.
Cat fights through a pane of glass.
I feel sorry for poor critter and start to feed it.
I advertise it as found on local neighbourhood site.
No response for a week or two but I repost.
Man says "I think this may be my cat" "I'd given up on him"
Eventually comes and takes him away, about half a mile away, across another even busier road.
I m glad he's gone but tell the man he needs neutered and deflead etc.

Less than three weeks later boyo is back, he's losing fur on his legs and is scabby.
I feed him again.
Of course he won't go now and the owner is not replying to my messages, on local site, WhatsApp or messenger. Also rang, no reply.

I'd like to take him to the vets- neuter and skin treatment and either continue to feed him as an outdoor cat or ask the shelter to try and rehome him but I'm on very very dodgy ground.

It's keeping me awake at night , worrying about it.

Letting him in is not currently an option because one of my cats is very elderly and the other hates the imposter already.

Any advice from you wise folk who have read this lot is much appreciated.

minimad1970 · 21 July 2019 at 11:54AM

As you've tried to contact the owner with no response I would try to take him to the vets. If he's not neutered he probably won't be chipped so the vet should class him as a stray and he'll get the treatment he needs.

Newcomer1234 · 21 July 2019 at 12:13PM

Personally I would say that your own pets needs should be put first. If that means ignoring/shooing away the other cat then so be it.

Taking the cat to the vet is you starting to take ownership of the problem - is that what you really want?

And no, I am not a pet owner although I do like cats and may get one when I retire.

bspm1 · 21 July 2019 at 12:18PM

Take him to a local vet, most of them have dealings with Cats protection league, I would also give the vet that you take him to the telephone number of the potential owner, now you have fed him he won't keep away but I totally understand why you have, I would have done the same, but I think your only option now as a cat lover is to get him to a vet.

Artytarty · 21 July 2019 at 12:28PM

Ignoring, shooing didn't seem to get rid of him and I felt obliged to help him.
I realise that in doing so I have created a problem I now need to sort out.

Do you not think that me taking him to the vets is stepping into illegal territory?
Believe it or not, my son is a vet, local, and he thinks it's dodgy, I don't want to compromise him so may have to go elsewhere.
I'm also embarrassed about the whole situation because he told not to start feeding him.
I feel caught between the devil and the deep blue sea if I'm honest and yet I don't honestly regret helping an animal in need despite the upshot.
Meanwhile, cat is surviving I suppose and eating well despite skin condition.

My biggest question is, I think, can I go ahead and assume that the owner is no longer interested in his animal?

merrydance · 21 July 2019 at 12:35PM

Contact the owner advising him you are contacting the local PDSA or Cats Protection League. They will then deal with the matter. Poor thing deserves a better life than he is getting.

Artytarty · 21 July 2019 at 12:39PM

Agreed, he does.
I have been beating my pan in trying to,contact him, I don't have an address, just a phone number and I cannot get a response.
Using the same number he gave me when I sent him home the first time.
I'll keep on trying and doing my best.

hb2 · 21 July 2019 at 12:45PM

I think I would forget about the 'owner' and contact local Cats' Protection, saying this cat had been around for some time and you cannot find his owner. Explain the condition of his skin and explain that you cannot take him in because of your own cats.

Dymphna60 · 21 July 2019 at 1:08PM

In what way does your vet son think it is dodgy ?
I have taken a cat , poor condition trying to come into my house to my vet . They scanned it , no chip . Vet nurse said they get about one a week now . Usually old cats that people abandon when they get expensive.
Of course I made the mistake of looking the cat in the eye . So I payed the bills and took it home . My cat not happy .

Artytarty · 21 July 2019 at 1:23PM

Did your cat come round eventually ?

I suppose it's because the cat "has an owner" he's a voluntary stray.
He looks neglected, not seriously ill and it is it a legal requirement to neuter ones cat, just desirable to most.

From my sons point of view, he would be operating on an animal without the owners consent.

Dymphna60 · 21 July 2019 at 1:31PM

Wouldn’t he just ask a cat charity to take it and they would become the owner?
Could this man be dead or in hospital or something?
My cat remained none too happy but resigned. That was stray number 2 . At least this one only lived 9 months, was a very old cat with a chronic condition., first stray lived 4 years .
I have promised my own cat no more !

Moral dilemma

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