Watching my neighbour's cat dying by inches :(

[StillMedusa]

I have posted about the cat before. We have fed her for years as she only gets fed if she is around at the precise second that her 'owners' come home and open their front door.

Over the last couple of months she has suddenly become skeletal, despite lots of food..I suspect hyperthyroidism and/or kidney issues. They have not taken her to the vet. Our vet won't treat cats owned by someone else or I'd have taken her ages ago.

I caught them and asked if she was getting treatment..their answer was 'oh yeah she is a bit skinny now..she's old' Today DH directly asked them if they were going to get their sick cat to the vet..and they said they would take her next week.

Tonight my adult DS1 has just come in, visibly distressed ..she is outside in the cold and wet, huddled under our bush. We have take out one of our cats baskets (wicker type with a padded cushion in for trips to the vets) and covered it with a bin liner to keep it dry. He also put out more food and water for her. She climbed straight in on wobbly legs and purred. So tonight she will be at least dry and not too cold.
I can't bring her in (my three would fight her as she used to be pretty feisty) and I don't know what else I can do, except keep feeding her and keep her as warm as we can until she dies...which I am guessing is probably days away now.

How can anyone be so bloody uncaring? :(

[Broken11Girl]

Can you bring her in and keep her and yours separate? Shut them in different rooms etc.
Please call the RSPCA tomorrow/ Monday. They don't deserve pets

[BackieJerkhart]

Oh god take her to another vet!! Say you found her. Poor thing. Please don't just leave her out there!

[StillMedusa]

My house is open plan downstairs... and one cat is extremely nervous..I simply can't bring her in. I have tried before and she howls to go back out as she just isn't used to being indoors :( I don't think frightening her and distressing mine is a viable option.

I could possibly try a vet in another town ( not a lot to choose from where I live) but I think it would be just to take her to have her put to sleep... and frankly I am not going to be roasted by a vet thinking it's my neglected pet...I would have to tell them that she isn't mine.

All I can do tonight is make her as warm and comfortable as I can. If she is still alive by Monday and her owners haven't taken her I will go to my vets again and beg.

[BackieJerkhart]

Your vet surely has an obligation to treat a suffering animal regardless of who owns it?

[Onehellofaride]

Can you not just say you have found her?

[EachandEveryone]

PDSA? Say you found her.

[ByeGermsByeWorries]

Poor darling 😢

[StillMedusa]

Slight update, she was still alive this morning, and had managed to get out of the basket to poo... just outside. I put food down but then she came out to eat she fell over..when she tried to walk she leaned to the left.

I have taken her in, managed to partition off part of the house so that my cats can't get near and she is curled up in the basket. She purred when I cuddled her and seemed content in my arms.She does not appear to be in pain (my Morphy was in pain during his last week or so so I am very sensitive to how well they hide it) she just looks exhausted.

I could bang in the neighbours door, but I suspect they would reluctantly take her in and leave her in a corner to die... I have no hope they would pay for an emergency vet today. We will gently love her as much as she can cope with and I'll find a vet somewhere tomorrow, or Monday if she is comfortable.
I don't want confrontation with the neighbour as they are not particularly friendly and frankly if I speak to them I am going to go ape shit...I'll concentrate on loving Moomin in her last days.

[CaptWentworth]

The RSPCA will gain powers to remove her and/or speak to the owners. You currently don't have that. I would take lots of photos, ring RSPCA and advise them that the cat is with you because of the awful weather/you were concerned for its life. Then at least you know it's being dealt with.

[EvansOvalPies]

Our vet won't treat cats owned by someone else or I'd have taken her ages ago

Then that is a pretty crappy Vet. No Vet I have ever come across would refuse to treat a sick animal, to whomever it belongs.

As others have said, if your own Vet refuses to treat the cat, take it to another Vet, claim you don't know to whom it belongs, and they will deal with it. They will either put it down or find the owner, contact the relevant rescue centres (who will take more notice if the alert comes from a Vet) and then subsequent words can be had with the owner.

Oh, and for the future, I'd change your Vet for your own animal treatment.

[BackieJerkhart]

Please don't leave her to Monday! Or even tomorrow. Take her to a vet, any vet now. The poor thing!

[Paddingtonthebear]

Take her to a vet!!!

[monkeywithacowface]

Don't leave her in this state. Take her to a different vet and contact the RSPCA. If the vet says they can't treat someone else's cat say "Fine I'm leaving here without her and you can contact the owners"

The owners will then be forced to take some responsibility for their animal.

[caoraich]

I think you've done the right thing so far but I'd be taking her to a vet asap and saying she's a stray that's been living in your garden. I doubt they've bothered to chip her.

Are you near a pets at home? They often have an adjoining vets4pets who are usually open all day at the weekends.

[StillMedusa]

Final update... found an open a vet and asked them to stay open til I got the neighbour... got the neighbour and they are on their way to have her put to sleep. Finally doing the right thing at last .
She was unconscious, but the last thing she felt was us stroking her gently . RIP feisty little girl.

[CaptWentworth]

Aw no, poor wee mite. She had comfort from you at the end. I would still take some pictures of her and report to RSPCA. I would also inform the vet that you have had concerns for some time. This should definitely be investigated.

[Lissette]

Medusa well done. Your cats are lucky to have such a lovely CatMum.

[FilledSoda]

Heartbreaking.
Thank goodness you were there to give her some comfort op.
I actually hate your neighbours.
They better not get another pet

[RubbishMantra]

Oh how sad for Moomin and you. Thank goodness she was shown some comfort by you and DS. Poor little bugger, once all feisty and her owners made her hide in the rain.

Those absolute fuckers who neglected her need to be stopped from owning other pets. How to do do that though? Reporting to RSPCA?

[StillMedusa]

I don't know :(
I have now discovered they didn't go to the vets... as the vet stayed open to wait for them and rang me nearly an hour later (it's a 15 min drive to the next town) to say they hadn't turned up. I am hoping she simply died minutes after the neighbour took her from me... she was unconscious so it would not have been long. My suspicious side thinks maybe they didn't go because they might be questioned as to why she had been left to get so ill.

I am feeling so sad.. sad that I couldn't do more, and sad that I didn't just hold her until she stopped breathing.
She was such a funny cat. Torty and white, feisty as hell...two strokes and then she bit. But she came running to me every day when she heard my car arrive home, would sit in the middle of the road and shout at cars..miraculously they always stopped and waited til she moved. She was fearless and very loud.
I have been putting food out for her several times a day for at least 8 years, always worried if I went on holiday as she would be thinner on my return.
I will miss her.
At least describing her here, makes her life KNOWN. I know that's a bit daft but she deserved more love than she got. Mostly she was just ignored by her owners, but she managed with my help, but her end was unforgiveable.
And yes they have another , younger cat...

[isadorable]

Thankfully she had you. I really will never understand people who ignore their animals. Being indifferent to both their happiness and their suffering. You did a lot for her and she died knowing love and care. Having just been through the decision to put my own oldie to sleep, I totally understand how you feel. She was a part of your life and you hers.

[VivienneWestwoodsKnickers]

What utter bastards. Please follow up with them - I dread to think what they've done with that poor cat. I'm so pleased she had you to help her. Poor wee thing.

[OlennasWimple]

Just seen that they have another cat - definitely a report to the RSPCA, if only for the younger one's sake