To ask you to stop feeding ‘stray’ cats

[Notopel]

Just started Saturday morning off clearing cat sick off the carpet. And it’s because once again the fat, very well fed cat has been fed at another house. He can’t eat generic cat food and needs grain free specialist food.

I’ve bought him numerous ‘do not feed’ tags for a collar which have all ended up in a tree somewhere, I imagine.

If you do think you’ve got a hungry stray on your hands, then please take them to a cat rescue instead. But in reality your hungry stray is often just someone else’s greedy cat.

And before anyone suggests I keep him in, he’s a rescue cat who we adopted at 7 years old. He’s used to being outside and we have a huge natural valley on the doorstep (ideal environment for cats to roam).

I constantly see posts on Facebook groups of people saying ‘look at this poor cat I’ve seen on my road he is clearly lost should I take him to a rescue centre? For how I’m keeping him in my house’ or other such nonsense. Most of the time there is absolutely nothing to suggest they are lost!! Cats go outside and shock horror are often walking around in streets! It drives me bonkers.

A neighbour’s cat rushes into our house at every opportunity and starts wolfing down our cats’ food - it’s not a case of us feeding him, but him stealing our food!

He will even eat leftovers like pasta, I put out for the birds!

Fuck yes, OP, you are right. And people, don’t take them in if it rains. You can’t see a collar because they’re chipped. Their cat flap gives them 24/7 access to home. But if they’re trapped in your house, enjoying unsuitable treats, they can’t come home and their cat sitters worry. Me, I worried. Also people with sheds etc, have a quick look before you lock up, to make sure no sneaky kitty has found her way in.

My neighbour feeds a cat from down the road who is clearly well fed already & has a collar with her name on.

I've told my neighbour she shouldn't feed her but she does it anyway!

My old cat was an outdoor cat & used to steal food from other cats, I knew because my neighbours all told me. She would also run into their homes to attack their cats!!

My current rescue is too scared of outside so she's an indoor cat, just as well as my neighbour would probably feed her too!!

My neighbour's fat cat sneaks in my back door or kitchen window and steals my cat's food, perhaps your cat is doing the same rather than someone purposefully feeding him? I do feed a stray, and yes he's definitely a stray, cat rescues round here have waiting lists of 6+ months for a space, believe me I've tried.

YABU, I would never have obtained my last two cats had I not been a feeder. One was homeless, the other was being mistreated by its owners. I'm glad I fed them!

Any cat that comes near my back door is offered a handful of tasty Whiskas treats!

Any cat that comes near my back door is offered a handful of tasty Whiskas treats!

I'm genuinely curious as to why you would feed other people's cats?

The correct thing to do if you're concerned that a cat without a collar may be a stray is to take them to the vet to have their microchip scanned.

If you post on a local FB page or contact Cats Protection there are often people locally who can come out with a scanner (I do this in my area for Cats Protection).

@catlovingdoctor

Any cat that comes near my back door is offered a handful of tasty Whiskas treats!

Can you not? They have cereals and grains which some cats can’t digest.

I put food out plus his favourite basketwhen one of my cats was missing just after we moved. Turns out he was dead but the greedy cat next door probably ate all the food.

If there is no microchip then a concerted effort will be made to find their owner.

You really shouldn't feed 'stray' cats unless it is simply to build trust to catch them for the purposes of scanning.

Otherwise you may simply just be stealing someone else's cat or giving a cat food that it shouldn't be eating for medical reasons.

People are often told to leave food out for hedgehogs, which I assume is usually eaten by cats. They would never see his tags saying not to feed him because they wouldn't be around when he was eating the food.

Are you sure your cats not one of those arsehole cats that sneaks through other people's cat flaps and steals the resident cats food?

I wouldn’t feed someone else’s cat per se (as in pouches or dry food), because I take it as a given they already eat normally. But I just think it’s nice to give a small amount of nice treats. In the same way you might offer a child some chocolate or sweets. If a cat was very large though I wouldn’t. My neighbour has two cats; one is much fatter than the other and I avoid giving her treats.

Have you tried leafleting the houses in your street and the neighbouring ones? A picture of your cat (as he’s distinctive it should work well) and a ‘please don’t feed him, he’s violently sick after eating normal cat food and on a prescription diet.’

I wouldn’t feed someone else’s cat per se... But I just think it’s nice to give a small amount of nice treats.

But that is feeding someone else's cat

Treats or pouches, there's no difference, food is food, and feeding them just encourages them to come back for more.

Pretty much all my neighbours feed my cat she is a total chancer, and even the people staying in the Airbnb next door were letting her in and feeding her! I hardly see her when the weather is nice but as soon as it rains or turns cold she is a permanent fixture on the sofa again!

Unfortunately, from the frequent threads on here, you get people who won’t stop feeding a cat even when they know it’s owner and they’ve been repeatedly asked to stop feeding it.

Six dinner Suzi

@catlovingdoctor are you ignoring the point about some cats not being able to digest cereals/grains? It’s the OP’s rug that got sick on it not yours.

But I just think it’s nice to give a small amount of nice treats. In the same way you might offer a child some chocolate

Please don't feed them even if it is just treats its still food. All you are doing is encouraging them to come to you in the same way a child would if all you ever gave them was sugary treats.

Also whiskers is literally crap in a packet if you fed my cats food especially whiskers i'd be very very pissed off.

99% of cats have a home and don't need some random do gooder feeding them. These people are not doing it for the cats they are doing it for their own self validation of oow look how good a person I am.

I am currently feeding a cat but only after a long discussion with cats protection. He's beyond hungry and not a six dinner sid, I genuinely have never seen a cat eat like he does
So until we can get close enough to paper collar/scan, he's on my cats organic grain free cat food

Dog person here and the standard behaviour from other owners round here is to ask if it’s ok to give a treat to your dog. Lots of them are on special diets.

I know what you mean @HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone ,I spend a lot of money on high meat content,grain & sugar free foods & treats for my lot because I believe it's much better for them.
Whiskers etc would cause major digestive issues!