I have stolen the neighbour's cat.

[fullofregrets]

About three years ago a little tortie cat appeared and started trying to get into the house. She would get through open windows and sometimes pounce on us in the night. Occasionally we would return and find she had been in the house all day having snuck in the front door without is noticing.
At first I wasn't sure where she was from and she was scrawny. She was also riddled with fleas so I thought she might be a stray. We didn't actively encourage her by feeding her but we didn't spray her with water or anything.

Anyway as time went on she was spending more time sat outside the house and our bedroom window crying to come in. At the time I was heavily pregnant and on mat leave so was in a lot. In the end I flea treated her primarily because I did not want my house infested with fleas and also because she was twitching and scratching. I also wormed her and at this point we started to feed her.

Subsequently I found out from a neighbour where her owners lived. Apparently they had several cats and two big dogs which is maybe why 'my' cat moved out? Since she first started appearing she has now pretty well moved in, when we go on holiday my mum comes over twice a day and feeds her and the cat now has a cat flap .

My problem is that her owner's have split up and the house has now been sold. Do you think I should go round and speak to them or offer some money for their cat? I've kind of been at some weird halfway house with her the last couple of years where she isn't really mine yet appears to live here! I actually don't think she has been back to her owner's house for over a year.
Or should I just leave it? I'm fairly sure they know she has moved in with us and they've never said anything.

I am an awful cat stealing person. I never even wanted a cat.

[puds11]

if she was covered in fleas, then they were not taking care of her. not only would i keep the cat, i would also be tempted to call the RSPCA if there were any doubts about the condition of the other animals.

[fullofregrets]

edam I found out recently that apparently she had also tried to move in next door for a while but they already have two cats. Must have settled on us because she's the only cat so gets a lot of attention.
I think I would feel worse about it had she not been so badly kept to begin with. She is much glossier and of a healthy weight now. I would actually worry about her if they took her. Not that I think they hurt their animals, just don't seem to bother much with the cats.

[Spuddybean]

I would go and speak to them as i would worry that they may take her when they move.

We had the similar thing - found a hurt young cat (5 monthsish) scavenging food in our bins. He was limping so we took him into the house and fed him and knocked on all the neighbours for 5 streets in each direction, but no one said he was theirs. We took him to the vet who treated him (he was in a very bad way) fully expecting him to buggar off back to his owner when we collected him a week later (if he lived and after paying a small fortune!). But he lived with us and moved 5 times till he died last month aged 12.

When we moved from there (3 years later) i knocked again at loads of houses, as i didn't want to take someone elses cat.

They will probably say just keep her, but wouldn't it be devastating if they just took her one day? (that was always my fear with mine).

[fullofregrets]

It's more that they might come and demand her back! She is pretty much a house cat (by her own choice) and very very rarely leaves our garden even if she does go out. I know where she is most of the time.

[Spuddybean]

Ah well if they demand her back i would tell them to fuck off! They haven't bothered up till now and she wasn't looked after so i doubt they'd have a leg to stand on. Does anyone really have proof they 'own' a cat?

[Changethatbulb]

I'd just leave it and see what happens, but then again I'm a coward. I certainly wouldn't offer them any money though.

My cat slowly moved out ungrateful beast despite being kept clean, having a lovely bed and the food he liked.

I see him in the street now and again. He always turns his back and shows me his arse. Delightful.

[Joolyjoolyjoo]

I don't think you have done anything wrong, as such, but I agree you would be better to talk to the previous "owner".

Actually, the Theft Act (1968) does make it an offence to steal a cat, unless you can prove you have done everything possible to locate the owner! (came across this last week, due to a client's cat ownership dispute!)

One of our cats moved in with the neighbours across the road, pretty much full time. When we moved I went to see them, and asked if they wanted to keep her, as she seemed happier there. They loved her to bits, we all kept in touch, and she lived a pampered life until she was 15, when I went to their house and put her to sleep myself It can be worked out without any animosity if people are reasonable, but better to say something. Good luck!

[Longtalljosie]

I'm sorry, I know you don't want to, but you're going to have to speak to them. You may love the cat, but she isn't yours, she's theirs.

Say you thought she was a stray at first as she was always trying to come in, and you've only recently discovered she's theirs. For all you know when she goes out she could go back their for a second dinner, so they may feel she's theirs as well.

[Longtalljosie]

Oh sorry, x-post, I see she's a homebody! Even so, she's still their property...

[MyDogShitsShoes]

So you've never actually spoken to the owners but you are worried the might "demand her back"?

YABVU and clearly know it, you've only posted on here to try and justify it to yourself. If you were so sure you were doing the right thing you wouldn't have bothered asking. She is their cat not yours. It's stealing.

Of course the cat comes in, you feed her and give her affection.

I won't post anymore as this kind of thing makes me very very angry.

If you want a cat there are thousands and thousands in rescue centres all over the country. Don't take someone elses. You have no idea of her history or if she has any pre-existing conditions.

Anyone on here encouraging you should be ashamed. They only have your clearly biased side of the story.

[WhereYouLeftIt]

Well to take the cat with them, they'd have to physically have her - and by the sounds of it she stays in your house/garden You say you think she hasn't been back to their house in over a year. They probably think she's left them or been run over, so the risk of them coming to take her is pretty small. Do they even know your house at all?

[QueenofPlaids]

You may find out you're not the only 'owners'.

We had same thing - cat neglected by neighbour who kept going away for ages at a time & leaving it on automatic feeder, riddled with fleas & underweight. We thought it was a stray.

Still visits us & at least 3 other neighbours that I know of as well as his owner (though often just to play or snooze in our study!)

I am however resigned to the fact that he is not actually mine & wouldn't think to buy a cat bed or install a cat flap, though I guess what's done is done.

[quoteunquote]

Just go and ask the neighbours if they mind her staying, cats do what they want anyway, one of our elderly neighbours cat died, and ours moved in with her for a bit(she cooked fresh fish for it daily(I nearly moved in), when she died a few years later it moved back, cats are cats.

One of my children's favourite books when they were younger was, Six dinner Sid, really lovely funny book, highly recommend it.



www.amazon.co.uk/Six-Dinner-Sid-Inga-Moore/dp/0340894113?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[fullofregrets]

mydog you are right of course.
I think because I was home a lot she used to come for the company. I'll admit I couldn't stand to see her little face pressed against the glass crying. I also hated seeing her covered with fleas. We didn't feed her for quite a long time after she first appeared but then she seemed to be hungry and was very thin.

Anyway, I am considering maybe writing them a letter? (Wimps way out.)

[ujjayi]

Please go and talk to them.

From everything you have said, it sounds as though the original owners do not care where she is or how she eats/gets looked after. However, cats are crafty buggers and I speak as someone who received two texts whilst on holiday a month ago from two different people asking me if I knew anything about a missing cat who was dreadfully hungry - eating 2 bowls of cat food at a time and still asking for more etc etc. That "missing cat" was actually mine and he was being fed and fussed over twice a day by my neighbour! He doesn't have a collar (as advised by our vet) and he has a tendency to look a bit dishevelled thanks to his penchant for rolling around in general grub and hiding under cars (he is a british cream!)

[ujjayi]

Also, my sister's cat was given a second home by a woman who declared her "awfully thin". But that was just the nature of the beast. She was a skinny but well fed at home little cat.

[CeliaFate]

They haven't looked for her very hard have they? I'd say nothing - the important thing is she's being looked after and is now loved. They don't deserve to keep animals if they can't look after them properly.
Cats will stay where they're happy and looked after - she's happy now. Imagine how you'd feel if you contacted them and they said they wanted her back and then neglected her again.

[Jux]

I'm a cat owner and cat lover and I would kill someone who stole my cat! She's been with you for along time though, and you think her owner's know she's there; they haven't been round to see you so it sounds like they're not too concerned. She was scrawny and flea ridden and now she isn't. Leave it. She's happy with you or she'd be elsewhere.

I'm warning you though: DON'T YOY GO STEALING MY CATS!!!!!

Enjoy her.

[fullofregrets]

I won't jux [slightly afraid emoticon.]

ujjayi she is naturally a slim cat but she definitely should not have been as thin as she was. All her bones were sticking out, especially shoulder blades and hind quarters. When she had been worked she fattened up.

[TheSockPuppet]

Are you my neighbour? She keeps stealing my cat, coaxing him into her house, feeding him and keeping him in her house for sometimes days at a time. She even took his collar off and replaced it with one she'd bought for him.

Last year we had really bad snow and we kept him inside for a couple of weeks, it wasn't that hard though as he refused to go outside, and she sent her mother round to our house to ask where the cat was as she'd been crying her eyes out with worry over him (wtf?).

He became really overweight too as a result of her over-feeding him and we had to take him to the vets then keep him indoors on a special diet for almost a year.

[fullofregrets]

Hope not sockpuppet!
This cat is a girl cat and definitely not a fatty.
I am a different cat burglar.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Oh ffs. Hide the cat if they come round. She had fleas, was thin and they have made no attempt to find her. This has been going on for three years.

She is yours.

[fullofregrets]

Wormed not worked
Think you spell check.

exit I feel like an official cat owner now you have said

[ExitPursuedByABear]

They will not. I would put money on it.

Dogs are hard work.

Cats are fab.