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My Neighbour is stealing Cats!

17 replies

DancingElephant · 07/01/2021 09:14

It appears that my neighbour has taken it upon himself to start stealing all the other neighbours cats!

There have been 2 very regular cat visitors to his home for a while now which he appears to leave food for outside and yesterday he let them both in his house. The owner of one of the cats has posted on our community Facebook page to ask people to stop feeding her cat because it’s not coming home and later on asked if man at number x was on the page, so presumably she knows it’s him.

Last night I was woken up by a completely different cat miaowing to get into his house and then a 4th cat appeared.

Why is he doing this? He is slightly odd - never seen his curtains open and we did fall out a few years ago as he started putting my address on his deliveries because he was out at work.

I’m a bit bemused by it all. I haven’t got a cat, but I know you don’t go around seducing other peoples cats!

Can I make some sort of community citizens arrest on my neighbours behalf? Or I’m pondering the idea of stealing the stolen cats away from him to see how he likes it! Obviously, I won’t, but it’s odd, isn’t it?

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Sn0tnose · 07/01/2021 09:32

My neighbour does the same thing. Except she claims that they are clearly being mistreated and starved and goes round telling anyone who will listen that their owners are animal abusers and she’s had to step in to rescue said cat.

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Soutiner · 07/01/2021 09:33

He thinks the cats are hungry and he is helping them. Sadly, the cats are manipulating him.

Years ago we hand an elderly woman nearby take over the feeding of my next door neighbours cat. The next door neighbour had two little girls and they liked to make a fuss of their cat and perhaps the cat just wanted peace and quiet as he more or less moved in with the old lady.

I was the mediator and eventually got the old lady to stop feeding the cat and letting the cat into her home and I arranged for her to have a coat by the Cats protection league who got her a cat if her own.

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peapotter · 07/01/2021 09:35

www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-54710400

Good timing! Print this out and pop it through his letterbox at 2am

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DancingElephant · 07/01/2021 09:45

@peapotter I’m definitely putting that through his door!

I’m sure the cats only starting visiting when he starting leaving a dish (not sure if it was food or water) by his front door...

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TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 07/01/2021 10:04

He's not selling pies locally is he... Shock

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RobinRedford · 07/01/2021 17:56

There was a woman near my mums house who seemed to ‘acquire’ a lot of different cats.
New cats would appear, others would disappear. Confirmed to take at least two from neighbouring streets. Lots going missing in the area suspected to be catnapped by her including my mums cat but couldn’t prove it!

In her case it was very much what Mrs Jones (not real name) wants, Mrs Jones Gets. She’d see a nice cat and just take it.

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Thatsmycupoftea · 07/01/2021 18:12

This is actually really common. Loads of cats I have come across go into different homes. No loyalty.
People who like cats just let them in.
No one really owns a cat.

Sorce of info :I work with the public in peoples own homes.

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CarrieMoonbeams · 07/01/2021 18:35

Yup, exactly the same scenario happened with my MIL's elderly neighbour. She started feeding one neighbourhood ginger cat, then just kept it, then another big black fluffy one, and then got another neighbour's Siamese!

I think it's terrible.

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JimmyTheWeed · 07/01/2021 18:55

Unfortunately this is quite common with cats,as most of them have zero loyalty to their servants owners. They're just interested in where their next meal is coming from. Can you imagine if people tried doing this with dogs?! Grin

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Cherrysoup · 07/01/2021 18:55

I persuaded the neighbour to stop feeding a couple of local cats by saying that the owners would be cross/missing them. It really pisses me off that people effectively steal well looked after cats. I’m glad mine hated everyone but me!

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Ansterdame · 07/01/2021 18:57

I know that the saying is that you never really own a cat, but you do. You pay for it, you pay the insurance, the vets bills, the injections, it really isn’t fair for someone else to start feeding it and letting it into their homes. I have a friend who has done this, and she’s even bought it a bed, food bowls etc. It upsets me as I have a cat and would be really upset if it stopped coming home or if I didn’t know where it was. These people should just get their own cat and stop being so selfish.

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GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 07/01/2021 19:15

Maybe he’s lonely, enjoys their pseudo-affection, rubbing up against him in the hope of something tasty.

Maybe he really does think they’re hungry. Our old cat (very clearly not underfed!) was very proficient at a pathetic little orphan-kitten mew, with one paw raised - it’d fool anyone kind hearted and not cat-savvy. I only found out ages after it had been going on that neighbours had been feeding him leftovers from their many dinner parties, plus he’d been going round for a saucer of milk every morning!

This just goes to show the infinitely superior loyalty of dogs, though - we’ve had both. The instant the kidnapper’s door was open, Dog would be streaking off home, while Cat would be curled up in the warmest place, lazily licking itself after its nice dinner, and not giving a flying fuck about its owners.

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BreatheAndFocus · 07/01/2021 19:17

Tell him the cats are on special diets and meds and could become ill if he carries on. Also tell him he’ll be liable for vets bills when the police/owners find out what he’s doing.

I hate people who do this! Get your own bloody pet!

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ChristmasUserName2020 · 07/01/2021 19:35

If he stopped putting out the food then the cats would stop coming (in theory) Saying that, next door’s cat moved in with us when I was a kid and there was a love triangle between her (the interloper) and our original two cats 🐈 🐱

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MessAllOver · 07/01/2021 19:54

Some cats are very fickle, though. And they know when a human has a weak spot for them. DH and I are both cat lovers but don't own one due to lack of time and small DC. The black and white cat a few doors along regularly makes a beeline into our house when the door is open, sniffs the shopping and then sits on the sofa expectantly as if to say "Aren't you going to offer me a cup of tea?"

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AlwaysLatte · 07/01/2021 19:56

Haha! Six Dinner Sid 😀Cats are smart.

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Serena1977 · 07/01/2021 20:39

This happened with my cat Fred. I noticed he was getting a big but didnt know why so I cut down on his food then he wouldn't come indoors so I started leaving his food outside then I couldn't get close to him for his annual jabs and check up so he missed them. I saw one day a woman up the street had a kennel on her drive with lots of blankets and food. I confronted her and she shouted at me saying I was neglecting him and her husband then threatened my dh. I contacted the police and they said cats have their own will. Dogs are different they said.
By this point he was obese and his belly swung from side to side and he couldn't run anymore. Every day I could see from a distance but he never came near me or our home. Then one day he wasnt there and the kennel had gone. She never had the decency to tell me what happened.

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