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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think you can't steal a cat?

213 replies

brasty · 31/10/2017 13:26

This is in reference to a conversation with a friend. As long as the cat has access to outside, I don't think anyone can steal your cat. Your cat may decide though to live elsewhere, because of better food, because it is quieter, or some other preference.

OP posts:
whiskyowl · 31/10/2017 15:04

No-one is talking about dressing up in a mask and stripey top and thrusting an unwilling cat into a huge bag marked SWAG. The fact is, cats can suddenly decide they don't like a household (generally when there has been a change in personnel - another cat added, a dog, a baby) and decamp to live elsewhere, and they can be amazingly persistent about that decision. It's not all about food either. My (admittedly stupid) cat was abandoned in a flat I moved into by a previous owner, and I found him, skin and bones, under the bed. He could have decamped (another smarter cat living there did), but he decided he'd prefer to stay there and die. He is a very shy beast, very frightened of change of any kind. I got him back to health and fighting weight, and he has been with me ever since. It's not a story of stealing a cat, but it is a story about how food isn't the be-and-end-all for them. Mine is spectacularly dim, though.

BertrandRussell · 31/10/2017 15:05

So if a cat wanders into my house what do I do?

wasonthelist · 31/10/2017 15:09

I've seen that there's a minority of posters on MN that have an almost sociopathic view on pets and think that one being lost/taken is 'no big deal, it's just a cat/dog/whatever'.

Well maybe - but that doesn't make a cat into a human child or teenager, or make any of their behaviour remotely comparable. Unless you're trying to say losing cat would compare to losing a child? That really would be sociopathic!

LoverOfCake · 31/10/2017 15:16

Well, if we're comparing cats to teenagers, if a teenager started breaking into my house, stealing my food and helping itself to my hospitality I would call the police and have him/her arrested. Or if a younger child I would call social services and have the parents investigated for neglect.

So it stands to reason that any cat which breaks into my house should be taken down to the local rescue centre and be rehomed or claimed back if the owner has bothered to microchip it.

Pengggwn · 31/10/2017 15:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

reetgood · 31/10/2017 15:20

@bertrandrussell put it out? We had a fairly persistent cat visitor in between owning cats. I did enjoy his antics, but I put him outside when he sneaked in and I didn’t feed him. If I’d been concerned for his welfare I would have made enquiries locally and if really concerned, taken him to vets to check for microchip.

BertrandRussell · 31/10/2017 15:26

Well, obviously put it out- but short of locking your own cats in or out- how do you stop it coming back?

melj1213 · 31/10/2017 15:35

I think it is cruel to have an indoor cat

Tell that to my house cats and they'd disagree!

I have two house cats, they aren't held prisoner, they just have zero interest in going outside. The furthest they will go is the back yard if I'm hanging out washing and in nice weather they will occasionally use DD's open bedroom window to access the flat roof of our downstairs bathroom where they will "bask" in the sun for a couple of hours before coming back inside, but have no interest in going any further. In winter/cold weather, they're less keen on leaving the house even though I leave DD's window open, to get some fresh air circulating for at least a short time every day, so they have the opportunity to go out if they chose to.

One is currently in her favourite daytime spot of sleeping stretched out in the centre of DD's bed and the other one is lying on the back of my sofa with her tail curled round my neck as I type this ... if that's being cruel then I'll happily be branded a cruel cat owner.

eyebrowseyebrows · 31/10/2017 15:36

We don't allow cats that don't belong to us in our house. That means they can't access our cats' food

^This

It's very easy really. Just get a microchip cat flap.
It's also very unfair on existing cats to keep letting other neighbourhood cats come in to their territory and steal their food, their home should be their 'safe place'.

And it's definitely not fair to encourage someone else's cat to stay with food.

On FB yesterday there was a post of people going around a local estate with a cat box trying to very literally steal someone's cat and drive off with it Angry

BertrandRussell · 31/10/2017 15:37

There is a difference between a house cat and a cat that doesn't want to go out.

PeppaPigTastesLikeBacon · 31/10/2017 15:39

I think you’re required to put posters up in your local area regarding the cat before you can claim the cat as yours.

I had a cat that went to live with someone else and another that lived between us and someone else (one was when I was a child and the other in my own home - we don’t have history of cats packing and leaving)

I agree that you can never truly own a cat but yes, you can steal one

reetgood · 31/10/2017 15:41

@bertrandrussell well you can’t. You just have to keep putting it out, pesky persistent creatures :) but also my top tip if you own cats and other cats are targeting their food etc is a microchip cat flap. They’re brilliant. We got one because our now Cat is a sensitive soul unlike our sadly departed super friendly Cat. There has been some serious Cat territory wars locally and we’ve had some local bad hat cats come and stalk the catflap but they can’t get in. I’d dread to think how stressed he’d be if we couldn’t at least secure house as his territory, poor sod.

eyebrowseyebrows · 31/10/2017 15:43

Cats are legally owned by their owners, they are considered the property of their owners.

There is really no debate to be had about this, that is the law in the U.K.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9968640/How-the-law-views-cats.html

melj1213 · 31/10/2017 15:43

There is a difference between a house cat and a cat that doesn't want to go out

Is there? What difference is that then?

As far as I was aware, any cat that is kept as an indoor pet can be referred to as a house cat ... including cats that have no interest in going outside.

M cats are house cats because they have no interest in going outside and therefore are kept as indoor pets. If they showed any inclination to go outside (well further than their basking spot on the roof) then they would no longer be house cats as they would no longer be being kept as house cats.

RicottaPancakes · 31/10/2017 15:47

Of course you can steal a cat! Ask yourself: Did I buy it? Did someone give it to me? If the answer is no you have most likely stolen it. If you think the cat is a stray please take it to a vet's for a microchip check. Don't just assume it's yours!

lollipop7 · 31/10/2017 15:47

I’ve got three cats and all this “a cat picks you” guff is why I don’t let them wander further than our fairly big and interesting garden.

They cost me a fortune in vets bills and upkeep. My children would be heartbroken if they were kept by someone else. Because they are quite happy to be fed and wander into other people’s houses, it doesn’t mean you aren’t doing anything wrong by not repeatedly turfing them out. By letting them sleep there, feeding them, petting them you are appropriating ownership.

I wish people wouldn’t do it especially when they are clearly not strays.

eyebrowseyebrows · 31/10/2017 15:50

This is quite a detailed guide on U.K. law and cats...

www.thecatgroup.org.uk/pdfs/Cats-law-web.pdf

eyebrowseyebrows · 31/10/2017 15:55

It's beyond irresponsible to keep a cat that isn't yours, not least because you have no idea of its medical history or whether it is or should be on daily medication.

Which is also why you should never, ever feed a cat that isn't yours. It may be on a special diet that you have no idea about. The only exception is where you believe it to be stray and need to tempt it with food to capture it to be checked for a microchip / handed over to a rescue charity / kept with you while you attempt to find its owner.

JacquesHammer · 31/10/2017 15:58

So if a cat wanders into my house what do I do?

I've discovered lobbing whatever is to hand very effective. I'm a good shot. I never hit but I terrify it sufficiently

lilly0 · 31/10/2017 16:02

My cat is very special to me , I've owned cats all my life and this one is different he likes walks he can't go far anymore so I carry him back (his hind leg was amputated) he can open doors , very friendly , smart I love him very much if someone stole him I'd be very upset. He is requires monitoring of his weight for his mobility so cannot be fed extra food he only sits in the garden now as he can't go far but I believe he loves me whether that's stupid or not.

user1493413286 · 31/10/2017 16:03

Of course you can steal a cat, why would someone feed a cat that doesn’t belong to them? Why would you allow a cat that doesn’t belong to you to spend a lot of time in your home and give it a lot of attention?

lilly0 · 31/10/2017 16:04

Mine can play fetch as well!!

Weedsnseeds1 · 31/10/2017 16:14

lilly0 your cat sounds lovely. My current cat is also rather dog like in coming for walks, sitting on command and waiting for permission to jump on the furniture. He is also a self employed pest control contractor who has been lent to the neighbours to deal with mice on a couple of occasions. With my knowledge and theirs, I might add, and was returned with much praise when the job was finished.
I'd be heartbroken if anyone stole him.

Warhammerwidow89 · 31/10/2017 16:30

I think feeding a cat isn't stealing it. Locking it in the house and the keeping it from leaving is stealing the cat. My cats indoors only, even if she wasn't she'd never go missing cause she hates people!

9GreenBottles · 31/10/2017 16:34

I acquired a cat last summer when we had our patio doors open all day, most days. Our living room has no other openable windows so keeping the doors shut is not an option. He had been visiting the garden for months arriving at 9.00am every day apart from during school holidays so we assumed he lived with a family and was put out to fend for himself all day.

When he decided our house was a better option, he would arrive, scoff the cat food that was out for my cats, then head off to our bed for the evening. We would be putting him out when the patio doors were shut but he would sit on the doorstep most, if not all, night (I know because I would check). On a particularly wet and windy night, we didn't put him outside and he was allowed to come and go, but he always came back. I assumed he had been left at home whilst the family were on holiday and he wanted to be looked after.

I took him to the vet to find he has a chip and was registered somewhere near to me (but I'm not allowed to know the details). The home phone number has been disconnected so now I think he was left when his owners moved. He's been wearing a collar with my details for over a year now (so if he had escaped on move day, and subsequently returned to his old home, the neighbours could have alerted his owners). I now pay for insurance on him. Did I steal him?