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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

What would you do - stolen cat

66 replies

Absc · 12/12/2021 18:17

Any advice? My ragdoll cat went missing on Saturday she’s been seen in a house on the next road. I also saw heard her when I knocked on the door they saw me through the window and sat back down.

For context this happened before end of 2019, however I got her back after a lot of going there, knocking on door calls etc. someone text me to say that she was in their garden so I went over and grabbed her.

No issues since then I kept her indoors for a significant period of time. She went out Saturday, I couldn’t lock her in that night as I was in hospital with my baby. I didn’t think to ask the person doing the animals for me to lock the cat flaps.

So far I’ve been to the house, added posts on Facebook asking if people have seen her etc. when this first happened that’s how I found where she was the woman admitted locking her in for a week and said she was going to take her to vets just didn’t get around to it. I’ve sent text messages as well.

I can’t keep going around tonight in the cold as I’m a single mum was a three month old baby who has an infection whos already had one hospital admission?

Do I keep going around / asking someone to for me? Or call 101 as I know in some areas police will intervene but not all.

OP posts:

drpet49 · 12/12/2021 19:28

* I'd use FB. Pictures of your cat and lots of sad faces. X have taken my beautiful cat again. Please can someone help me. I've been round loads and they won't open the door and give her back.*

^Do this.

JeffThePilot · 12/12/2021 19:40

Yes ragdolls are unlike other cats as they are known to have no road sense or ability to work out risks, and so they’re at a much greater risk of coming to harm outdoors.

I hope you get your cat back OP.

repottingthescabious · 12/12/2021 19:45

phone the purrlice.

MadeForThis · 12/12/2021 19:46

Put a note through her door saying that if she doesn't return the cat you will call the police.

Tell her that you will be asking her to return the cat on social media at 9pm if the cat isn't back by then.

Mylittlepotofjoy · 12/12/2021 22:50

Hope you get her back soon . I once css as used such a performance on the door step of a woman who had taken my Siamese that the police were called !!! They said they couldn’t help ( law may have changed now ) but eventually I got her back through rescue due to her being microchipped !! Hopefully retrieving your girl will be easier . My Siamese cats now are all house cats

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 12/12/2021 22:54

This scares me. I have 3 and one of mine has been going missing for days at a time. I know one family who let him in and feed him, but they messaged me to make sure it was ok. I think there is someone else keeping him in some nights as he appears at half 7 in the morning. I've kept him in now for 5 days due to needing some treatment from the vet (he's a fighter) and I am reluctant to let him out because I just know he's going to go missing again! I'm thinking of getting him a tracker collar

Imdreamingofapeacefulxmas · 12/12/2021 22:55

Well done op I was gong to say call non emergency no and see what they say as surley it's theft!

Original poster

Absc · 13/12/2021 11:04

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

OP posts:

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 13/12/2021 11:05

@Absc

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

Omg!! I can't believe the cheek of some people. Good on the police!!

ComDummings · 13/12/2021 11:21

Glad you got her back

thickthighs73 · 13/12/2021 11:26

@Absc

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

Great news, and hopefully the warning is enough to shit up the thief

candlelightsatdawn · 13/12/2021 11:32

To anyone who's had that cat taken - how on earth do people justify it ?

Do they lie and say no the cats mine now 🤯 sorry it's so far from anything I can comprehend- I just wonder what people say when approached ? After stealing a cat 🐈

XenoBitch · 13/12/2021 11:35

@candlelightsatdawn

To anyone who's had that cat taken - how on earth do people justify it ?

Do they lie and say no the cats mine now 🤯 sorry it's so far from anything I can comprehend- I just wonder what people say when approached ? After stealing a cat 🐈

Some say their kids have fallen in love with it and it would upset them for the cat to go back home. Or the crappy line that I have seen trotted out a lot... "cats choose their owners".

OP - am glad you got your cat back!

Letsbekindplease · 13/12/2021 11:36

I’m glad you’ve got her back.

What is with people ? Why do people think this is ok ???
If I were you, either you or someone you know go around to that house and tell them to not take the cat again and why they’ve taken it in the first place. So strange why anyone can think it’s ok to do this.

candlelightsatdawn · 13/12/2021 11:41

@XenoBitch I think that's mad. If it was reversed and my DC were crying I would go get my own cat.

I actually just can't wrap my head around anyone having the audacity to say right I'm clearly a cats favourite human, so now I'm the chosen one who this cat lives with.

My god. Baffling.

Cheerbear24 · 13/12/2021 11:54

@Absc

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

Glad you got her back but why the hell do they keep stealing your cat? I’d go batshit at them!

Clymene · 13/12/2021 11:55

@Absc

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

Good! well done. I can't believe people steal cats. Get your own!

TangerineDreams · 13/12/2021 11:56

@Absc

Just to update she’s home the police went around this morning and brought her back to me. She was in the house and they have warned her it’s an offence and not to take the cat in again.

That's fantastic news. I know most police forces are stretched now and would mumble something about civil matters and fob you off but this is really good. What would have been probably a 15 minute job means your cat is home and the thieves have been warned off by the authorities and the police (hopefully) won't be needed again.

XenoBitch · 13/12/2021 11:57

[quote candlelightsatdawn]@XenoBitch I think that's mad. If it was reversed and my DC were crying I would go get my own cat.

I actually just can't wrap my head around anyone having the audacity to say right I'm clearly a cats favourite human, so now I'm the chosen one who this cat lives with.

My god. Baffling. [/quote]
People can be absolute CF when it comes to cats.
My parents have lost 2 cats due to other people deciding to keep them (got a sob story from one family, and the other cat showed up with a collar and tag on from someone else).
A friend's parents had a cat meowing at their window, so they let it in and assumed it was a stray so kept it. Then they had a flyer put through their door... cat lived opposite them. They gave a sob story about falling in the love with cat too.
Countless posts on community groups on FB assuming a cat is stray, or that deciding it is choosing to live with them. One post was about a kitten they had found... several people told them to delete the post and keep the kitten!
Several FB friends who had a cat show up in their garden, so feed it, let it in. No attempt to take it to the vet to scan for a chip.... everyone saying the cat chose them so keep it. They also had a flyer put their door.. and it took a ton of convincing for them to give the cat up. Their kids were distraught it was so "unfair".
And the one that boils my blood. I had an elderly cat... deaf, skinny, on a special diet and lots of meds. He went missing. I found out a family had taken him in (well known in our area as having a ton of cats and taking in "strays"), assumed he was on deaths door so had him PTS.

whatagloriousthingtobe · 13/12/2021 12:00

Glad she is home ! Honestly can't believe the sheer audacity of some people, get your own cat ffs! I am laughing at the thought of your cat being confiscated back by the police 😆

TangerineDreams · 13/12/2021 12:01

@candlelightsatdawn

To anyone who's had that cat taken - how on earth do people justify it ?

Do they lie and say no the cats mine now 🤯 sorry it's so far from anything I can comprehend- I just wonder what people say when approached ? After stealing a cat 🐈

One I've heard a lot is that they're "rescuing" it. Excuses that it's cold, or hungry.

Nope. My little turd of a cat liked comfortable places to sleep and was a greedy shit who acted like she'd never been fed in a week just to get more. Then after overeating she'd puke it back up. (Vets said she was medically fine, just stupid. I had to monitor and restrict her meals)

The only reason she wasn't permanently stolen each week by her multiple new "owners" was because she was a master escape artist and would toddle off home as soon as she got a chance.

pilar3 · 13/12/2021 12:03

OP, so glad you got her back. Thank god for that.

I also have Ragdolls. You can get a static wire that goes round your garden and, when the cat goes out, they wear a special collar. If they go too near the wire they hear a beep. If they carry in it’s like a “static shock” you might get off a car door, etc. It is NOT an electric shock. It’s very effective. Takes a couple of days for them to get used to it, but it keeps them in the garden and away from thieves and traffic. Just Google “cat static fence”. Also works for dogs.

ElftonWednesday · 13/12/2021 12:04

God, what on earth is wrong with people? So glad you got her back. I'd be going round there to give them a piece of my mind.

BelieveInRainbows · 13/12/2021 12:08

Oh I'm so glad you got her back!

At the start of the year, my lovely big tabby cat got out (usually an indoor cat, never bothered going out even when the door was wide open). Hunted everywhere, put up posters, posted on every local and lost pets FB page I could find. He's chipped and wears a collar with contact details so I just hoped someone would find him. 3 months later and someone the next street away posts on our local lost pets page asking if someone can come out and scan the 'stray' she took in 3 months ago. My bloody cat! She claimed he never had a collar on when she found him, but why she didn't get him scanned for a chip right away in that case is beyond me. Still angry about it. People are absolutely batshit when it comes to cats.

Original poster

Absc · 13/12/2021 12:19

I know if you want a cat you go out and buy or get one from a rescue centre. If my son hadn’t been unwell would have gone around more before calling police.

Wasn’t expecting them to call this morning and go and get her within a few minutes.

This is April with little man.

OP posts:

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