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Original poster

If I find a cat and no one claims it can I keep it?

51 replies

Bunnybigears · 02/06/2019 13:56

We have found a cat dumped in a bag near our house. We actually saw the bag being put there and the man run away. Cat has been checked for a chip and hs a chip but it has no details registered to it. Can we just keep it? Or do we needntonhnd it over to a rescue centre? As long as it gets on with our current pets it is more than welcome to stay but can I really just keep it?

OP posts:

qazxc · 02/06/2019 20:36

Get it neutered, it's far better for him (and you if you keep him).
Once you have made reasonable effort to find it's owner, which it sounds you have done, I'd consider available for adoption (by you if it still suits).

MNP2019isUpAndRunning · 02/06/2019 20:39

I cannot understand why the owner had the cat chipped but do didn't log the details. Petlog is free.

qazxc · 02/06/2019 20:49

I don't think anybody can do anything about neutering TBH.
I used to catch/neuter and release stray cats with a charity in my area. It's entirely possible that a pet cat might have been caught and neutered before getting returned to catch site. No complaints as yet, and even if they do it's not a reversible operation so not sure what we could do about it.
If it was a £££ pedigree that was intended to be bred, I assume that there would be details on the chip.

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Stripyhoglets · 02/06/2019 20:50

Yes you can. Our find is currently snoozing on the back of the sofa. She wasnt chipped though. Waited a couple of weeks and put details on websites/facebook etc. but she wasn't claimed so we had her chipped and vaccinated etc. She's been spayed or we'd have got that done too!

Poppins2016 · 02/06/2019 21:03

If someone should claim him (very unlikely) then you've done them (and definitely him) a favour

I agree with thecatneuterer - neutering is 100% the best decision for the cat (and neighbouring cat population).

I cannot understand why the owner had the cat chipped but didn't log the details. Petlog is free

I half wonder whether the owner deleted their details and then dumped the cat (odd that the database would allow deletion of details though).

OP, he's a gorgeous cat, I do hope he stays yours! Black cats are (anecdotally) the most affectionate. My own black cat is a very loyal softy, who thinks he's a dog (comes running down the garden when called)!

thecatneuterer · 02/06/2019 21:06

@qazxc Yes exactly. I do the same thing. If they're not chipped then they're fair game. (Also if they are chipped but the chip isn't registered).

Original poster

Bunnybigears · 02/06/2019 21:07

So he is on;
Animalsearchuk.co.uk
All small local rescues know about him
All local vets know about him
24hr emergency vet knows about him
PDSA know about him
Cats Protection know about him
He is on all local area Facebook pages.
Petlog know about him in case anyone tries to register his chip.
Anywhere else I should contact?

OP posts:

KnitterOfSocks · 02/06/2019 21:09

I want a cat to just turn up! DH is ambivalent about actively getting one but I could totally talk him round to an accidentally stray... local rescues won't home to us because we live on a main road. So maybe it wouldn't be good to take one in, but I would so like a cat to wait hand and foot on...

thecatneuterer · 02/06/2019 21:09

Also the fact that he's an unneutered adult makes the possibility of him having been taken from a caring and loving owner MUCH less likely. A caring and loving owner would have had him neutered. The sort of owner who can't be arsed to neuter is likely to be the sort of owner that would dump the cat if he became inconvenient.

thecatneuterer · 02/06/2019 21:10

OP no - no one else. You've done more than enough. Usually the most obvious explanation is the right explanation. In this case that is that the owner dumped the cat.

Original poster

Bunnybigears · 02/06/2019 21:16

Now I just need him to come out from behind the sofa

OP posts:

Poppins2016 · 03/06/2019 03:05

Do you have a name for him yet, OP? It sounds as though you're becoming his human! (I'm sure he'll realise you're a good human soon and venture out from behind the sofa in time...)

bluebluezoo · 03/06/2019 07:59

That sounds like way more than reasonable effort to find owners.

You have a cat :)

BlueSkiesLies · 03/06/2019 08:02

Congratulations on you’re new kitty!

Get his nads off, he’ll be a happier kitty.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 03/06/2019 09:52

If anyone does try to claim him make sure that you see a photo first - some people do 'claim' lost cats to train dogs ...

VisionsofJohanna · 03/06/2019 10:17

Sounds like you have a new cat!
We did this- an obvious stray (shaggy, semi feral, entire male) started hanging out in our house having jumped in through the window one day. Made reasonable effort with posters, took him to the vet to have him chopped and chipped, introduced him to our other cats... Named him Tom as he was a big tom cat.
Sadly Tom became hysterical at what he thought were attempts to lock him up and deny him his freedom (ie. not have back door open at all times - did not understand the concept of a cat flap) and decided life was better on the outside. He lived in our garden for years.

bluebluezoo · 03/06/2019 13:41

IIf anyone does try to claim him make sure that you see a photo first*

“A photo”?

Don’t be daft, any genuine cat owner will have at least 30 thousand pictures of the cat in various sleeping positions.

Their social media alone will have several profile pictures of them with the cat.

YetAnotherSpartacus · 03/06/2019 13:43

^Were you trying to be funny?

Many photos then.

And not everyone has social media or even fake social media. I don't.

Original poster

Bunnybigears · 03/06/2019 15:07

Thanks everyone. His name is Pokey, he is having his bits off on Thursday. We have pulled the sofa out and he now has quite a large living space behind there. He has his blanket, food, water, litter tray and seems quite content. He comes out now and then when all seems quiet.

OP posts:

QueenBeex · 03/06/2019 19:48

Congrats on the new member of the family! Pokey won't be coming out on Thursday lol!

ithinkmycatistryingtokillme · 03/06/2019 22:00

That's how we ended up with ours, found a 3 month old bundle of fur, skin and bones in a ditch, no-one claimed him so 7 months later he still lives with us!

WhoWants2Know · 03/06/2019 22:21

OP, I think the fact that he's not been neutered is an indication that he has been taken and relocated from an area where he was causing a problem. People get kittens and don't bother neutering them end up with male cats who roam around spraying, fighting, stealing food and terrorising neighbouring cats, until someone gets fed up with it. Your boy is actually fairly lucky he was just moved on and someone nice has found him.

I've known a couple of people associated with cat rescues who would discretely loan out traps so that the big bad tomcat can be captured, given the snip, and returned the next day.

LizB62A · 03/06/2019 22:36

In case it's useful, there is a scheme where vets in the general London area will neuter stray cats for free: www.cats.org.uk/c4/home.asp?url=c4

LizB62A · 03/06/2019 22:38

I always thought the chip could be traced back to the vet that implanted it into the cat - that would have been useful

Emmapeeler · 03/06/2019 22:55

We did this- an obvious stray (shaggy, semi feral, entire male) started hanging out in our house having jumped in through the window one day. Made reasonable effort with posters, took him to the vet to have him chopped and chipped, introduced him to our other cats... Named him Tom as he was a big tom cat.
Sadly Tom became hysterical at what he thought were attempts to lock him up and deny him his freedom (ie. not have back door open at all times - did not understand the concept of a cat flap) and decided life was better on the outside. He lived in our garden for years.

Snap! My ‘feral’ has been sunbathing on the trampoline today

He has basically lived in the garden since we ‘acquired’ him, although the utility room now has a flapless catflap.

We put found cat notices up but nobody claimed him. He was so properly ‘feral’ when he arrived (is still really nervous) that I think he was previously a kitten who got lost before he was neutered or one which was abandoned.

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