Is this cruel and can I feed him?

[Chipscheesentomatosauce]

I heard the guy from the flat next door go out about 12.30 this morning. Shortly after i heard his cat crying to be let in, then it stopped. Just as I was dozing back off, i could hear a weird intermittent banging noise in the close. It woke me as I dozed off a couple of times and I looked though the peephole, couldn't see anything. 6.15 the crying and banging woke me again. It's his poor cat jumping at the door handle. The guys gone out and left it locked out all night.

When I heard him go out earlier, he didn't sound to be in a rush and was chatting quite normally to whoever he was with, so i'm assuming he's not gone out in some emergency. Obviously I could be wrong and hopefully this will be a one off.

I know cats are quite self sufficient, but he's only started letting this poor cat out in the last couple of months. Isn't this cruel, to go out and leave him locked out all night? Should I leave him a bowl of milk? Can they have semi skimmed? The noise has been doing my head and ruined my sleep, but mostly I feel so bloody sorry for it! I've not had a cat since I was little, but he seems quite distressed to me.

[ItShouldHaveBeenJingleJess]

I think I'm going to have to leave this thread - my cat-cravings are returning!

[MsMims]

Well done OP. I would tell the owner what their pet has been up to. Owner may think the cat just gets excited when he gets home and not realise it's distressed while he's out.

Actually Molly an animal in distress for several hours should be everybody's business. If you don't want other people concerned for your cats welfare, don't trap it outside with no way in.

[Laiste]

OP, i've read your posts again and if i'm getting it right this is the up and down of it:

''I live in flats with a communal area which has security doors which should be kept closed. For the last couple of months when my neighbor has been putting his young cat out for any length of time he has been leaving a security door propped open for the cat (maybe because the weather's turned colder?) AIBU to have a word as it's a security issue plus if someone shuts the door the cat is getting trapped indoors?

I think you would have had a unanimous YANBU.

This is one of the big problems with having a cat when you live in flats with a security door. What IS the solution? If he shuts the outer door when he goes out the cat could slip back in with someone else easily and be stuck in the hall again.

[Laiste]

I guess he could put a bed, a water bowl and a cat litter tray outside his door but are there restrictions on belongings in the communal area? I imagine there'd be complaints about having to go past a litter tray in the hall. Small kids and inquisitive fingers!

[Chipscheesentomatosauce]

To be honest, the back door being left open is an ongoing thing, which I've given up reporting. There's a dog owner who leaves it open too, so he can open his front door and let the dog out the back garden.

Catman and I are on the top floor, so only him and I passing through. No issue from me about a wee bed, etc, but no, it wouldn't be allowed by out HA.

[ItShouldHaveBeenJingleJess]

Catman! . I love it!

[Laiste]

Liking ''catman'' too :)

It's tricky then. If it's only you and he up there on the top floor then i'd have a chat with him about him keeping a little bed, water and a litter tray by his door. He'll probably go for it as he's obviously concerned for the cat if he's trying to leave the outer door open while he's out.

Does the HA do checks? I guess if they're not much help with the security door situation then perhaps they won't be too interested in a cat bed?

[pregnantat50]

Actually this thread reminded me of something that happened a while ago.

My sons bedroom in our old house had a window that overlooked the roof of the garage. A big fluffy ginger cat (we named Tuesday) kept jumping in through his window. He would take it outside and it would go round the side of the house, jump on the fence, on the garage and back in through his window. This happened a number of times, before my son closed his window...odd behaviour, we had lived there over 10 years so not a previous owners cat, and he was well looked after and fed.

[thecatneuterer]

Personally I would feel sorry for the cat and let it in to my house, after buying a litter tray on my way home. I would probably feed it too, although it obviously has an owner so feeding isn't essential.

I would though like to address the 'never feed a cat that isn't yours' brigade. That's the sort of thinking that means that stray cats, of which there are millions in this country alone, end up dying of starvation. I know it's not the situation here, as we know this cat has an owner, but advice to never feed a cat that isn't yours is downright dangerous and cruel.

We so often see the advice from contributors on here that you shouldn't feed a cat you see hanging around, even if it looks hungry, as it might have owners. Well yes, it might have owners, but it might also be stray/abandoned/starving and if no one feeds it then it will end up like this rescue I was called to last year:

www.facebook.com/celiahammondanimaltrust/posts/830773006933560

When looking for this cat I went knocking on lots of doors and most people had said that yes, they had seen a very thin, desperate looking cat hanging around for the last couple of months. When I asked if anyone had fed it most just shrugged and said no as 'it was nothing to do with them' (fair enough - you can't make people care), however a couple of nice people said no, they hadn't wanted to as they were worried it might belong to someone. So that cat was slowly dying of starvation as a result.

So, speaking generally and not to the OP, if you're worried about a cat, please do feed it. Then to check if it has an owner use a paper collar, or get it scanned for a chip (for free) at any vet. If it turns out it has an owner, fine, stop feeding. But if it hasn't you might be saving it's life.

[YetAnotherSpartacus]

Oh dear. I'm getting cat cravings (well, more than usual anyway).

Has anyone ever read 'Six Dinner Sid'?

www.goodreads.com/book/show/707710.Six_Dinner_Sid

[ratspeaker]

I've known cats who live in a close or tenement stairs who are let out by the owners and come back in with owners or neighbours, so no need to keep stair doors open.

Our cat obviously gets fed somewhere else. He did have a "do not feed "collar but that has disappeared. [hmmm]We've been round most of the neighbours explaining that he HAS to loose weight ( he's over 7kg ! )

Cats should always have access to clean ,fresh water. Especially if they eat dry food but even cats eating wet food need water .Dehydration can lead to kidney problems.

[SuperFlyHigh]

poor cat - not sure what I would do

[Clandestino]

Has anyone ever read 'Six Dinner Sid'?

Thank you for the suggestion, just bought it on iBooks. Will be a nice good night read for DD. With two cats with personalities of a diva tiger, she'll enjoy it.

[ratspeaker]

Hopefully this wasa one off with the cat sneaking out.
Id put a note through catmans door saying how upsetting it was to hear the cat meowing all night.

If he persists report him to HA , I doubt they are keen on a pet being locked in a communal area.

[Eevee77]

The responses here are infuriating, you do not feed other peoples pets and you do not invite them into your house! Water on its doorstep if you must but a cat can go a day without food and millions of cats stay out all night, happily - it's when a lot of cats have the most fun, in the dark, less cars, less people etc.

Just have a word with the owner.

[Eevee77]

There's a big difference to feeding a hungry cat (they're always hungry!) and feeding a cat who has been "hanging around" for weeks getting gradually thinner

[SpunkyMummy]

Clansestino

^incredible. She was sitting there like a statue of a deeply traumatised and insulted feline, feeling all sorry for herself.
She paid me back the next night when I woke up at half two in the morning because there was someone lying on my shoulder, licking my eyeball.^

That's cats. Mine is a bit of a cuddle monster (well, obviously only select people... but the few she likes she seems to loove). Anyhow, she obviously sits on my keyboard when I'm trying to work. Rubs her chin vigorously on the edges of my laptop, bats at my pens, tries to stick her head in my tea cup...

And if you dare take her off your blanket or try to get at least a bit of it back... she'll look at you with these huge soulful eyes and then huddles into a super small ball. Makes me feel horrible...

[EveOnline2016]

My cat alway is meowing for food.

She is well fed, but when some idiot was feeding her without my knowledge she wasn't eating at home and the vet recommended keeping her in for a few day sure enough she was eating again, I was prepared to get her to the vets as I was that worried.

[BertieBotts]

I would say to the neighbour that the cat is keeping you awake and ask if he can keep it in at night.

[Wookiecookies]

Please dont feed someone elses cat, my cat suffered with a serious metabolic disorder and my neighbours insisted on bloody feeding him even though I asked them not to. It made him very seriously ill and nearly killed him on several occasions (not to mention costing me a fortune in vet bills) . You might think you are being helpful and have good intentions, but its a really bad idea. Talk to your neighbour.

[Clandestino]

SpunkyMummy, I had dogs but none of them was as crazy as cats. They are good at training us.

[kali110]

Don't feed it milk incase, but it isn't true that all cats can't drink it.
It's due to an enzyme that cats produce as kittens that enables them to digest milk. when they get older most cats stop producing it so can't drink milk, but not all.
We have 4 now, all can drink it
Never had one that couldn't.

[ImprovisingNow]

I used to have a cat who was regularly fed by a number of our neighbours as well as receiving perfectly decent meals at home. I used to watch from our upstairs window as he visited them in turn looking soulful and telling them how hungry he was.

When we moved house (about a mile away) he stayed for a couple of weeks then decided the neighbours in the new street were not much cop and moved himself back to the old street. One of our old neighbours agreed to take him as nominally "her" cat and the last I heard he was still doing the rounds. I often wondered how many of them thought he was "their" cat.

[YetAnotherSpartacus]

Clandestino - I hope that you like Six Dinner Sid. Watch out for the eyes in the pictures - they are very expressive.

Feeding a cat is one thing - but this poor puss was not happy being out and about at night, poor little snuggly-wuggly furball.

I'd have been sorely tempted to give it a warm place to sleep ...

[SoupDragon]

My cat is always meowing piteously for food. It's because he's on a diet because he's overweight. However, he is a big cat and carrying the weight underneath so when you oook at him from above/behind, you can see a narrow "waist" on his back and he looks long and slender.

It took months and months and months to get him down to his fighting weight of 6kg. Mostly because some neighbour was feeding him (he was throwing up fish etc occasionally, the dog was delighted). The bloody animal kept removing his "do not feed me" collar so that was no help.

OP is it possible Catman didn't know the cat had snuck past him? I would jovially mention how the cat was jumping up at the door handle trying to get back in