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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To leave neighbour who stole my cat a note

256 replies

MrsHoodwink · 09/09/2018 00:35

Ok “stole” is a strong word but they are trying to coax my boy to live with them and were just caught by my ex picking the cat up and taking it in their house

It’s a very friendly cat but is like that with everyone that walks past, they told my ex he even has a food bowl in their house Angry He said they started calling of him as soon as they got out their car

Now I know cats chose their homes but I don’t think you should take them on purpose Blush

I wanted to knock but it’s past midnight, aibu to post a note saying he has food allergies and to please leave him alone? They were concerned about him being out at night but I have a catflap he’s just hunting/wandering Hmm They also called my other cat “skinny” but she’s perfect weight Blush

OP posts:
NancyJoan · 09/09/2018 16:47

Are they back yet??

StarShimmer · 09/09/2018 16:57

Can you not phone the police? They've stolen your property, which you can prove as he's been microchiped.

CherryCherryCherry · 09/09/2018 16:57

I would have a stake out looking out your window and catch them before they go in. Don't think a note will make any difference. Think you need a face to face. If you are polite about it surely they can't refuse?

CherryCherryCherry · 09/09/2018 17:00

Dollymixture think you have got the wrong end of the stick! -read original post and you'll see.... Smile

Nelumbo · 09/09/2018 17:18

I would be livid, who do these people think they are? What business is it of theirs if your cat is out at night anyway?
You should not have to go to such lengths as to build cat runs, these people just need to be told straight.
We had a cat go missing, she was only 9 months old and very friendly, she used to just sit in our driveway during the day and would be happy for people to stroke her. We never did find her after months of searching, wouldn't surprise me if someone took a liking and just took her to keep. My DD was devastated.
All I can hope is that if she is still alive that she is in a loving home.

To add though I would be keeping the cat in at night at the moment with this arsehole cat killer still on the lose, my two are in around 8 or 9 each night. Sometimes my older cat is a bit stubborn and won't come back when called but I will not sleep until I know he is safe in the house.

SoupDragon · 09/09/2018 17:32

they really just love my cat

Start digging up the plants in their front garden because you “really love them”

Kemer2018 · 09/09/2018 17:41

This happened to us when my dd was 5.
We couldn't find cat the day we were flying abroad.
Luckily, pils looked from an upstairs window....she was at the window of neighbours shed...it was hot, she could've died. Pil knocked on neighbours who let our cat out.

Another time, we hadnt seen kitty for 2 days. Dd finished school, asked about cat, burst into tears, so i took her round the neighbours right then and asked if he'd seen the cat. He said not today but that sometimes she came in and he had food bowl for her and she doesn't mind his dog.
I told him to stop taking cat in as we feed her, take medical care of her and my dds is devastated. She was at my side crying.
Well, soon after, cat reappeared, stinking of fags and neighbour never had her again.
He told my partner that I'd told him off.
So yeah, take your kid round and knock the door and ask the question then tell them you want them to stop taking your cat in.

eleanorstoes · 09/09/2018 17:49

We've had this multiple times with our cat. He's a big fluffy pedigree, well fed and sleek, so no chance anyone can think he's a stray.

He has three families in our street, other than us. One lady feeds him chicken every morning but then turfs him out (because she knows he isn't her cat 🤔). One family has renamed him and insists he is theirs, but he is at least free to come and go with them and since they have small kids who pick him up, he doesn't stay at theirs.

The third lady feeds him and shuts him in her flat. She has also renamed him. I went the vet route with her - I knocked and said that the cat is clearly well settled at hers and she had two choices. She could stop feeding him and letting him in her flat so that he would return home. Or, she could take him on fully and that would include feeding him full time and taking on his veterinary expenses, which included £70 a month for epilepsy medication, £50 a quarter for a vet check up and anywhere between £90 and £500 for each occasion that he has an epileptic seizure. I helpfully took the medication to show her (which belongs to my dog 😊). I wasn't willing to pay the bills for his upkeep whilst she enjoyed his company so it had to be one way or the other. Strangely she turned the cat out straight away.

KurriKurri · 09/09/2018 18:09

My neighbours cat tries (and sometimes succeeds) to come into my house, he is very much and outdoor cat -as in he is always shut out and they don;t have a cat flap for him. But I always shoo him outside if he gets in, he waits on the doorstep if the weather is bad.
He's not even put off by my completely daft and soppy dog, who has mistaken him for some kind of unusual dog and tries to play with him by bowling into him at top speed and bouncing round him in the play pose.

He's persistant - I wish his owners would pay him a bit more attention as he practically lives in my garden, but I don't want him. He is fed though - cats do a pretty good impression of starving when they aren't.

CherryCherryCherry · 09/09/2018 19:46

Wonder if OP has spoken to them yet? Sits..... tapping fingers.....
Hmm

ohdeardeardear · 09/09/2018 19:48

CFs! I'd go crazy.

LyndorCake · 09/09/2018 19:50

I'm way too invested in this, I need to know what happens

HoleyCoMoley · 09/09/2018 19:55

I need to know what happensGrin

Lana1234 · 09/09/2018 19:56

I keep coming back to check if you’ve spoken to them yet 👀

SymphonyofShadows · 09/09/2018 19:58

This thread reminds me of a cat I had years ago. We went on holiday and a friend house sat and was going to feed the cat. When we got back she said she hadn't seen him all week so I was worried he'd been run over. He appeared later looking like he'd swallowed a football. The old lady up the road had been giving him a pint of milk a day and meat.

A tug of love ensued until I gave up. She brought him back about two years later crawling with fleas, when I was 7 months pregnant. DP took him back round there as he clearly didn't want us. He was a ginger bastard.

CherryCherryCherry · 09/09/2018 20:26

symphony hope you were talking about the cat in that last bit and not your dh! Grin

SymphonyofShadows · 09/09/2018 20:33

Cherry Grin I was indeed, the other one is bald

CherryCherryCherry · 09/09/2018 20:40

symphony Grin I have one of those at home too!

FloofyDoof · 09/09/2018 20:51

Between weirdos that try and steal people's pets, traffic and that awful cat murderer this is why my boy is a house cat. He's a member of our family and if someone tried to steal him I would be knocking in the door no matter what time!

If he's an outdoor cat can you build him an enclosure, my friend has one, she got a local handyman to build it for her.

TwoBlueShoes · 09/09/2018 21:02

This is all very familiar. With the last time my neighbors tried to steal my cat, it all got quite heated. The dad would tell me that the cat was in their house, but when I'd go round the daughter would refuse to open the door, or when I continued knocking she'd deny he was there. In the end they were sitting out and my cat was sitting out with them, so I walked over, grabbed him and had to keep him locked in for a while. He was not happy about being kept in and the neighbors were quite upset but it got the message across and in the end they bought a kitten. You know the saying "You can't reason with crazy."? It's like that. After they got the kitten, I started letting him out again and things got better as it had broken the habit of him going over. It's just pissing me off that it's all started again with us.

Original poster
MrsHoodwink · 09/09/2018 21:11

I’m here everyone! Twice more I’ve knocked, looks like I’m going to have to stake out tomorrow as they are pretending not to be home Angry

Promise I won’t abandon you all and will keep you updated, I haven’t posted a note as I’d really like to speak to them face to face... just about to go make sure my kitties are in for the night Grin

If I do post a note could I get some suggestions of how best to word it? Thank you all Flowers

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsHoodwink · 09/09/2018 21:14

My lovely babies are tucked up on my bed with the cat flap locked for the night Smile Wonder if my knocking has scared the neighbours into not trying to get him in

OP posts:
Stuffandthingseverywhere · 09/09/2018 21:35

Someone tried to steal one of our cats, taking his collars off (must have gone through over 30 collars as well, I was buying several a week, funnily enough since he's been home he's had one collar). He came back completely covered in fleas, which was great as my other cat has a flea allergy.

We had to get the police to speak to the man to let him go, which was only after he'd harassed me on facebook, called me at work and home and made my dc cry because he'd told them loudly he'd refused to let our cat out and wanted to keep it. My cat was unwell when he came back, needed antibiotics, was very thin and skittish, scared of the hoover, scared of my other cat, reluctant to be stroked, very nervous, when before he was confident and happy. Cat is now indoor cat until we've moved house, he's now just about back to himself but it's taken months and he hates being indoors.

The man who took him is known for stealing cats, they already had a houseful of cats (some were 'strays' allegedly) and tried to justify it that my cat wouldn't leave- but he'd shut him in his house!

Our local Facebook village groups are always full of people 'finding' a gorgeously healthy looking cat they think is thin and starving, and asking if it's a stray, keeping it in etc, it's crazy, let them go, they're clearly not strays!

Givealittlebit · 09/09/2018 22:13

Some people are honestly crazy!

LyndorCake · 09/09/2018 22:52

Dear neighbour,
DP and I have noticed that you have taken an interest in our cat. While I appreciate that you obviously care about cat very much, I believe you have now crossed a line. You wouldn't pick up a dog and lock it in your home, yet you appear to be doing this with my cat. My cat is very much loved and taken care of here. My children adore her/him and are very upset worrying if he/she is being taken away from them.
I am writing this note as I have tried to speak to you face to face, however we appear to keep missing each other. I am letting you know that cat is microchipped and I am asking you now to stop feeding my cat and stop bringing him/her inside your home. In all my years as a cat owner I have never felt the need to worry whether my cat won't come home, and as you know we have recently lost one of our beloved pets due to other people's carelessness.
Please come and speak with me once you have read this so we can discuss this fully.
Kind regards,
OP.

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