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!

#NotLost

Gorgeous kitty going about their day

Indeed. He's not mine. I like him, but wish cats didn't scare the garden birds.
He scares the life out of me sometimes by leaping up on the fence which my garden office window (seen in the pic) overlooks. Then we have a bit of a stare off (cat always wins obviously).

My dog loving but cat hating neighbour put those pigeon spikes along her fence to deter the cats. Of course they just tiptoe between them. I did have a little chuckle.

This is a daily occurrence in the local community FB groups. This one will forever be my favorite.

Giant Black Wild Cat!

Next door's 2 cats are sat on my garden bench. Shall I bag 'em up? 😁. The wildcat is hilarious. And the rat. Good thread, op

How bizarre most cats live for other people’s gardens. It’s what they spend half their time doing.

Oh I understand cats. I don’t understand people who bring cats into the community, live near a main road and throw their cats out (because it’s cruel to keep them in 🤔). Especially when their last 3 cats have ended up under the wheels of a car. “Never mind. We’ll get another one” and throw him out too, knowing the likelihood is that that cat will end up under the wheels of a car too.

There’s little point crying onFB because another of your cats have gone missing, been squashed in the road. Nobody cares 🤷🏻‍♀️

Fucking cats. That is all.

We have a local cat which has turned into a bit of a celebrity. He likes to hang around at Aldi and the Premier Inn.
He pops up quite often on the local FB page with people asking if he's lost and if anyone knows his owners.

Once there was a woman who saw him hanging around cars at Aldi and posted asking about cat rescues because she thought he was lost.
Despite loads of people saying he's not lost he lives right opposite. She still posted again saying she'd called the Blue Cross but they couldn't take him!

His owners put a GPS tracking collar on him and sometimes post his adventures on the FB group.

Can't say I've noticed this on the FB local group. Very occasionally there will be an owner whose cat has been missing for days or weeks, and they eventually make their way back.

I wouldn't assume a cat was lost, just going on an adventure and being a cat.

We had a cat intruder last night though!
Dcat told them where to go, but unfortunately I'd forgotten to lock the cat flap and it was on lock in mode, so it kept banging itself on the cat flap until I reached the door to open it.

Our local Morrisons almost always has a beautiful tabby called Grace visiting…. she’s very well known. She has a home but likes visiting and they welcome her.
Yet I see multiple posts a week asking if anyone has lost a cat as there’s one at Morrisons.

My neighbour years ago put thin barbed wire round her fence, My cat just saw it as a challenge 😄

A local B&M had a cat called ollie who hung around slept in the trolley bay had his own fb page and everything. I'm not sure if the people moved house or.what but they haven't posted in a while.

Oh God yes, cat posts are (one of!) the banes of my Nextdoor. People doing as you describe, plus posts along the lines of "my cat has been missing for ten minutes, disaster, help! Oh no here it is, as you were".

That, and people asking why a helicopter is circling.....

i did have a "lost " cat in my garden once. it (Not sure of its gender, so don't what to offend it) just kept looking through our door meowing at us. I went out and asked it why it was meowing at me as I didn't know it. A head popped over the fence and turned out it was next doors inside cat(is that a thing now!!) it took ages for her to grab it, think it was enjoying the out doors to much.

And..there is a white van driving slowly up the road....yes, Mrs. Peabody, that is the Amazon delivery driver...not somebody checking houses..

Plus, posts from the Met telling you not to open your door if someone rings the bell. Because they do such a good job of keeping the streets safe.

I'm so glad my mums not on Facebook she's obsessed with vans going up and down her street, she tells me how many a day she's seen.

Two 'lost' cats this morning

Guess which one won the stare off?

They're people who believe pets shouldn't be left to roam. It used to be OK with dogs, but it's not now. With the rise of people wanting to protect nature or just find it tragic that they'll inevitably end up roadkill.

my cat likes to follow me and the dog around the neighbourhood, stopping at different spots depending which route we take and waits for us to come back. The amount of people who say awww it must'be a stray if they spot me talking to her and i always enjoy telling them, no she's mine and she's a gad about little miss😂