To think you can't steal a cat?

[brasty]

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.

My first cat appeared in the garden of the flat I lived in and demanded entry. He was a complete Tom, incredibly affectionate, enormous (build - not a fatty) and in good shape. We didn't feed him but he came in every day. We were away one weekend and came back to discover we had been burgled (window forced open). Cat was asleep on the sofa in the same room - we always suspected he had attracted the burglar's attention and demanded entry. .
A few weeks later he disappeared for a few days and then re-appeared with injuries. We took him to the vet for treatment and the vet told us to kerp him in for a week for recovery. I told the vet we couldn't because he wasn't our cat. The vet looked at me as if I had two heads and said 'he is now - you've got the vet's bill'
Don't think I stole him.......

I don't feed cats.
But feeding a cat does not mean it is going to leave home. Yes it will leave home if the other person's food is better, house is warmer, etc.

Cats do choose their home.

Well loved cats generally don't seek out new homes. But they are opportunists and will go where there is food. If you don't feed them, they mostly won't stay. If you think you have a stray, please try to find their owner. It's heartbreaking to lose a beloved cat, even for a few days.

There are quite enough cats needing homes from the RSPCA etc. So if you want a cat, get one from there. Don't steal someone else's.

Well loved cats living in a busy noisy house, will sometimes seek out new homes.

Cats probably would hang around whoever fed them the most and made them overweight. Would that be right?

I don't think that is true actually.

My ds once asked to live with his friend because their house is bigger and they have an Xbox. Glad she didn't feel the same way as you op!

I have to agree with Urubu. A fairly young looking cat made an appearance in our garden in Spring this year, digging up our veg patch and doing his business in it. He took up residence under our bird feeder and would sit there for hours everyday stalking any birds that dared come anywhere near. As a result we ended up with a load of veg being binned and 3 dead pigeons which he left in my garden.
We tried chasing him and planting scaredy cat plants, it didn't work so I decided to test out the theory of they won't s**t where they eat and guess what? It seems to work, he now waits for us getting home, has a small snack and a play then toddles off.
Have I stole him? No, I don't even want a cat.

Having had a cat move out a few doors down (she didn't like the neighbour's building work and got fed up with the kitten that arrived after her), I tend towards the OP's opinion. The new "owners" were lovely, (found us via her microchip and got in touch), the cat was clearly happier and everyone became friends. That damn feline still has a smug 'Oh it's you' air about her whenever I go round though, which is quite galling . But the said kitten goes round to bother her and nick her food, so she doesn't get it all her own way...

I will add that she was well-loved and looked after - we'd adopted her from a home she found stressful (not the owners' fault). But she clearly saw us as the interim option in her upwardly-mobile trajectory - she wanted a large, quiet property with no boys in it, went off to find it and didn't make a backward glance! If only house-hunting were that easy for us humans.

Our neighbour stole our cat.

He was a naturally greedy and friendly soul. He also had a gastro problem that meant he couldn't digest most cat food and was on medication. So at our house he got lots of love, but also trips to the vet, pills several times a day, and boring special cat food. At their house he got whiskas and treats and no chance of being given pills. They had their own cats and would claim he was eating their food unprompted, but they had made it so his microchip would work in their cat flap i.e. letting him in!

For a while we tried to make him an indoor cat for the good of his own health but he would escape and go to our neighbours. He then died quite a horrible death as a result of eating too much food he couldn't digest (at their house). So not only did they steal my cat but they contributed to his death.

Should I have gone round there after he died to present them with the £4,000 final bill? As by your logic they were now his owner.

At one time I had two cats and so did neighbour across the way. I had a special cat flap that was supposed to only admit my cats. The other cats regularly tailgated my cats into my house and sprayed in my living room, helped themselves to food and one of them (large, long haired) liked to sit on my bedside table and stare at me when I was asleep. I often woke up to see his eyes gleaming green in the dim lighting and got a fright. So glad when they moved away and we were able to get rid of tomcat smell in the living room, etc. I tried a few ways to deter them but nothing really worked. My cats didn’t seem to mind them being there.

We had a cat when one of our children was little ,now grown up but it was their cat .A neighbour started feeding it and kept it inside .Eventually changed its name .Looked into nothing we could do .Our them young child was heartbroken. Hence now my cats are micro chipped as if they went our two younger children would be heartbroken they adore them .