Am I the only person who does not assume a cat is lost if I see one in my garden?

[GoChasingWaterfalls]

Every week someone in my local Facebook group posts a picture of a healthy looking cat, with something along the lines of "has anyone lost a cat? This one was in my garden, I've tempted it in with some food and going to take it to the vets to get it scanned".

I'll admit, I'm not a cat owner, but I did have them growing up and they used to roam for hours (often bringing back delightful presents). So when I see a cat in my garden, I just assume it's on a jolly and leave it be (unless it tries to poo in my flower bed, then it gets chased away).

Have you ever done this to a cat? If so could you explain why? Am I missing something? It's every bloody week in our group!

If a cat looks in good health with a well kept coat, it's probably having a nosey round another cats territory. If it's skinny with a poorly kept coat and hanging round for days, trying to find shelter, it's possibly a stray

I havent seen my favorite cat for over a week now, hes on one of his missions 😂

Lost cat posters do amuse me though.

Cats are very aware and intelligent, they dont get lost.
They leave you.

I have to find my cat through FB a lot!
He's quite popular on our estate and he follows me on the school run etc. And all the kids stop and say hello to him.
He doesn't come home for a couple days sometimes, he's too busy pestering the rest of the estate for love!

I actually saw some children calling him by another name a while ago, and trying to entice him with them 🤣 I had to kindly smile and call his name whilst secretly thinking 'That's MY cat!'

We've got one of these! Princess Pickles, she visits just about everyone in the neighbourhood. Her owners had to go and remove her from the local primary school recently.

When my friend moved house two other people put up missing posters for their lost cat. It was hilarious for everyone else, but sad for the other people involved.

Funnily enough though the other two homes went very quiet when my friend commented about the cost of all three of them insuring him, flea treating him, taking him to the vet etc…

Someone posted a photo of my cat saying they were going to grab it and take it to the vet.

She was on my neighbours drive - you could see my car in the photo!

All because she was small. She was a tiny little thing but ate more than our other cat (that was a unit!).

I know people mean well, but fuck off.

Cats wander around so of course they aren't lost if you see one. I see a few.

Ha my sister and I laugh at our local fbook page for this all the time. My 2 year old loses his mind when he sees a cat - he gets so excited - but I'm starting to think I'm surrounded by full grown adults who do the same lol. How people have time to post photos of every cat that wanders down the road with detailed descriptions of their markings is beyond me. I don't have a cat but I'm sure that's just what they do?? Such an odd new trend.

It’s one of the joys of FB is reading the posts from these busy bodies

If everyone either kept cats inside or built a catio this would never have become an issue in the first place. There are hundreds of feral or abandoned cats in our area, the rescues are inundated, so much so there is even a team of volunteers in our area who are regularly trapping injured (usually not chipped) cats and taking them to the vets. Irresponsible owners are the issue, not thoughtful onlookers.

This could be me!!
My phone regularly goes into meltdown friends telling me he is on fb streetwatch!

They are thieves that want a pat on their backs for stealing.

I think people are a bit bonkers about cats. I got a call from a local cats found group the other day to let me know they'd found my missing cat. She was not missing to me. I'd seen her that morning. Someone just did exactly as you said, tempted her in with food then went and got her scanned. Very bizarre. I think it might be because she has no collar but there's no point as they are designed to break when caught on something (for obvious reasons) so never last more than a few days!

My late Big Cat disappeared for a month once. He had epilepsy, and must have dashed away to hide somewhere when he felt a fit coming on, then been unable to find his way home. Precisely a month later he was found by a lady who looks after a lot of stray cats, about a mile from home, absolutely starving. She put him on Facebook and my neighbour recognised him and told me. I bore him home in triumph and he pretty much gave up going out after that. So it does happen.

However, before he got ill, he used to be a champion at pretending to be hungry. He could even summon a heartrending wail whilst sitting between two bowls of fresh cat food. When no interesting treats were forthcoming he would bolt the first bowl quickly so he could then lean on Small Cat to snaffle hers as well. She was delighted to see the back of him when he died.

My old neighbourhood was mental for this! The catnappers struck regularly 😫 it was hilarious when occasionally an owner would decline to take the “I know you were only trying to help” approach and instead would launch into a full on (and probably deserved) “get your fucking hands off my cat” tirade on our community page.

Just about all of the posts I see locally show a cat with optimum weight declaring it to be skinny and starving. A lot of people think that if a cat isn’t overweight it must be a stray - they are meant to be athletes for gods’ sake!
My two old boys no longer want to go out (one is blind, the other is very bonded to him) which is a relief, especially with a prescription diet. I doubt I’ll have cats again because of the stress of dealing with idiots who want to feed every cat they see.

Haha, I’ve just popped back on the page to take a look and sure enough, just 4 days ago there’s a picture of a friendly, healthy cat in a garden. 21 comments, several IDing the cat to say he’s not a stray, followed by several encouraging a capture and one even asking for a PM as they “patrol” and will bag it, scan it and then put it in their rescue!

This is ridiculous our garden is some kind of cat shortcut. We get easily a dozen a day. I assume they're out on cat business not lost

Just about all of the posts I see locally show a cat with optimum weight declaring it to be skinny and starving.

A lot of people have completely lost sight of what a healthy weight is for a cat.

Guess with everything - dogs, children etc are the same

Because the cats that frequent my garden do not approach me. The only time one has, it turn out it was lost, and a few miles from home and had never wandered before and didn't know it's way home.

YANBU.

My cat is always on facebook or whatsapp.

These people that post are convinced she is either lost, neglected or a stray. One day she isn't going to come home and it won't be because she is lost. It will be because some do-gooder has picked her up and taken her home or carted her off to the vets for scanning.

Who are these people who take cats to get scanned? Who does this? What if someone's much loved cat hasn't been chipped. That poor cat will be sent off to the cat sanctuary and never see it's owner again. It gives me the rage - just bloody leave these cats alone.

I'm sure non of these people actually have cats of their own because if they did they would know that cats have territories and like to wander.

We fitted ours with a tracker collar once and I was gobsmacked at just how far she roamed.

They would also know that cats are food whores and will feign starvation to anyone if they think there is a chance of getting fed.

Why on earth would you think it’s a stray? It is not ok to feed someone else’s cat.

If you think it’s a stray, and it persists in hanging around your garden, take it to a vet. DO NOT FEED IT.

My cat could win a BAFTA for his portrayal of “poor neglected animal who hasn’t been fed in a week,” which he will even perform right next to his full bowl of food.

Did your primary school not have 6 Dinner Sid?

Do people kidnap dogs in the same way?

Not like in organised crime, but if a dog gets loose, are they abducted too?

there's always one. Majority of cats in the UK go outdoors, very few people have the space for a catio. It is accepted that cats roam.

There is a difference between a roaming, well-cared for cat, and a feral/abandoned cat. Anyone that's ever been employed as staff by a cat will be able to spot the difference a mile off. The people making daft posts on FB about visiting roaming cats are not irresponsible owners, they are, as PP have said, drama llamas.

I've once tried to entice a cat into my garden. Our neighbours had moved out a few days before, the cat had gone awol on moving day and they messaged me to ask me if I'd seen her.

We put food out overnight, called her name and she turned up the next morning so we reunited her.

People who entice cats away are arseholes. Cats like to roam.