Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

He followed me home - can I keep him?

141 replies

OneMillionScovilles · 17/07/2015 08:00

First up: Only kidding on the keeping front!

A beautiful cat followed me home last night after I stroked it - I went into the house and thought no more of it. It made its way into our back garden and when DH opened the door to put the bins out it came inside and had to be shooed out again. It was still hanging around the (closed) back door this morning as if it thinks it lives here, and has come in and had a wander around when I opened the door.

I'm familiar with the cat-stealing neighbour threads, so I haven't fed it, shut the door behind it when it's wandered in, etc. - hoping to appeal to collective MN wisdom on what to do if it keeps hanging around. It has no collar (flea or name) but looks in far too good condition not to belong to someone. Is there a chance it doesn't know how to get back out of our garden having made its way in? How long would you leave it before you took it to the vet to scan for a microchip? I hate the idea of someone else being stressed out about their lost pet...

Apologies if these are common sense questions - we aren't cat people as DH is a little allergic, so don't really know 'normal' behaviour (although I'm tempted to let this particular cat rub all over the soft furnishings to see if he can really tell Wink - did I mention it's gorgeous?)

OP posts:
Lweji · 27/07/2015 15:27

Is she neutered? Probably not...
I hope she is not pregnant, or you might get more than your OH is prepared to accept. Grin

Original poster
OneMillionScovilles · 27/07/2015 15:39

The vets couldn't tell... She isn't currently pregnant, but our choices are 'wait and see' re oestrus or have her opened up to check, which they said seemed a bit extreme. So a bit unsure what to do...!

OP posts:
Lweji · 27/07/2015 15:41

I thought they could spot the scars. I know nothing about female cats

Fluffycloudland77 · 27/07/2015 16:11

I'd keep her in for a month and see if she goes into season, season is noisy and pretty obvious.

You must be chuffed to bits.

Original poster
OneMillionScovilles · 27/07/2015 16:12

Apparently only potentially as the scar is quite small... (There was some discussion amongst our vets on this.)

OP posts:
Original poster
OneMillionScovilles · 27/07/2015 16:14

I'm thrilled to bits Fluffy! Hooray for cat ownership Grin I can see myself turning into a crazy cat lady already...

OP posts:
Lweji · 27/07/2015 16:15
Grin
Flamingopie · 27/07/2015 16:56

What are you going to call her?

steppemum · 27/07/2015 17:14

Oh lovely. Bit of accidental cat ownership - love it.

I have had a stray kitten adopt me in the past, was abandoned in my garden by previous house owners, and once he found out I was friendly moved in and never moved out.
and my grandparents had sworn no more pets we are too old (but missed having pets) and an elderly ginger cat walked into their house and stayed. Vet thought she had probably been a stray for years, but had got too old to hunt. She just ate, purred and slept for about 4 years, before passing away due to old age. She was the sweetest thing.

paulapompom · 27/07/2015 17:31

Congrats on the new addition op. I have known people just move house and leave their cats to 'find a new home'. Could be what's happened here. She is lovely x

catsrus · 27/07/2015 18:25

Envy nearly 30 yrs of having cats and no sweet stray has ever wandered in and wanted to stay Envy the only strays I get are the two feral tom cats that see us as their local crack joint / place to hang out when it rains Envy

FabULouse · 27/07/2015 18:28

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

prettybird · 27/07/2015 18:54

Good news! Smile (.....although not, of course, for whoever has lost her).

Our male Siamese goes visiting - he's very friendly. Most people just talk to him but one lady, on the next street from us (ie across the road and though the garden to the next garden) encourages him with food and then complains that he is annoying her cats Confused

They even came around on Friday wondering where he was as they hadn't seen him: reason was that he'd been kept in since 6pm the night before as he was having an operation to remove some teeth and was still recovering.

I had to take him back to the vet's today for a follow-up check up and couldn't find him. Went out calling for him in the rain. No response. Decided to go round and ring their door bell. No answer. Turned around and there, ensconced in a comfortable cat bed on a chair in the coveted section by their door was the little tyke himself Hmm.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 27/07/2015 18:57

Really pleased for you, Scovilles - you did everything you possibly could to find her owners, so now you can enjoy her with a clear conscience Smile

Agree with Fluffy about keeping her in until you're sure whether or not she' spayed; apart from anything else it will give her more chance to train you and get you properly under her thumb/paw Grin

SnapesCapes · 27/07/2015 19:05

We have four cats, one of ours turned up when I was pregnant with DS2, I found him sleeping in our greenhouse (middle of December, bloody freezing) and after four days I thought I had better leave at least a little food and water in there for him. Then I thought perhaps he was cold, so bought a little cat igloo for him, with a microwave heat pad to pop underneath. A few days later it snowed so I bought a heater to pop in there, too.

The following May he came home (and still hadn't ever let me pick him up or stroke him) with a badly damaged leg. Picked him up, popped him to the vets, got his banjaxed leg fixed, got him neutered (no chip) and he officially became ours. He's a black cat, too, and he is the most adorable, grateful cat I've ever known. He's just so thrilled to have a home and a family you can see him shaking when he purrs. His name is Fake Timmy, which is the single most ridiculous name for a cat. But he is just my favourite cat ever. Yay for your new addition, hope she settles in well.

Mmbop · 27/07/2015 19:07

OP: 'First up: Only kidding on the keeping front!'
5 pages later
'Haha yeah we're keeping it'

Grin

I'm happy for you OP, you've been really kind and done everything you can and she's clearly loved already.

TheRainDrops · 27/07/2015 22:13

Ahhh! Happy ending for everyone!
I do really hope there isn't some devastated owner out there somewhere wondering where mog has gone but you have done literally everything you could and a responsible owner would have had her chipped.

Hope you have a very long and happy future with her as her personal slaves, and I completely endorse everyone else who has said that your DH will end up becoming her single biggest fan, regardless of allergies - exactly what happened with mine! Grin

Original poster
OneMillionScovilles · 27/07/2015 22:19

mmbop I know! Having a blow-by-blow thread really does hammer it home when you do a 180!

DH denies being smitten but he's just trying to save face - he adores her Grin Now for naming her... Smile

OP posts:
givemushypeasachance · 27/07/2015 22:46

These days only idiots or generally irresponsible pet owners would get a cat and not microchip it - all shelters just do it as standard when you adopt a rescue, and vets and charities are always offering it at discounted rates. Even indoor cats all too often manage to slip out one day, and without a microchip you haven't got a leg to stand on in hoping to be reunited with them if they wander. So that combined with the lack of any posters around or matching cats being reported missing means your new little black panther is very probably far better off with you than wherever she previously called home!

Congrats on the start of hopefully a long journey of being a cat slave. Smile

Original poster
OneMillionScovilles · 27/07/2015 23:28

Thanks peas - finding she didn't have a chip just reinforced all my twitches about her previous home... Confused

Now, what do we name her? DH keeps calling her by names he knows I hate to wind me up (he's not actually a dick, we just both tend to take the piss out of each other if the opportunity arises...) - I need to settle on and enforce one!

OP posts:
poorpaws · 28/07/2015 00:13

Midnight

QueenOfTheAlley · 28/07/2015 06:29

Glad she's got a good home and dedicated slaves.

givemushypeasachance · 28/07/2015 09:21

If you stick a nice photo down in the litter tray topic (photos are semi-compulsory Wink) with a 'what do I name this interloper new addition to the household?' title then you'll be inundated with suggestions - they love a good cat naming thread down there!

As a random suggestion are you a Red Dwarf fan? Lister's smuggled-on-board-ship cat was a little black female and she was called Frankenstein.

BabyGanoush · 28/07/2015 09:26

Cats just have no loyalty

QforCucumber · 28/07/2015 10:08

Our Black and White chose us too,

poor thing was living in a bush in the car park of the flats we lived in, was chewing on stones so we put out a bowl of tuna for him. It was February and freezing, I was at work and received a text off DP with a pic of said kitty in my bathroom with a bowl of water, food and a blanket (locked him in the bathroom as he was flea ridden)

Took him to the local vets, not neutered, no chip. they took his details and would let us know if he was reported missing. He got out a couple of weeks later and left us for 3 days so we thought he had found his way home, until we got a phonecall from said vets saying he was in a neighbours garden watching their girl cat.

Went and collected him, got him neutered and chipped ourselves, he was sooo tiny we thought he was a kitten but apparently he was approx 5 years old. Been with us 3 years now and other than being terrified of strange men and very very jumpy he's the most adorable and loving kitty ever.