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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ignore this? My cat...

88 replies

MyCatIsFatMax · 27/09/2023 20:42

NC for this as will add a photo. My cat has arrived home tonight with paper taped round his neck saying he needs to be fed, AIBU to just ignore?

Last week someone posted on a neighbourhood app asking if anyone recognised a cat, it was eating kitten food in her garden (during the day) that she'd put out for a hedgehog. I don't have the app (so can't reply), but was sent the photo by a relative who found it funny. I ignored it as he's a cat, eating cat food, he's clearly not a stray and is microchipped, and he came home as normal that evening.

Tonight he has come home with this round his neck, presumably from the same person. My close neighbours know him and know he's mine, we think this lady lives a street up.

AIBU to just ignore this, or do I need to sort it with her? He's a bloody cat, I could feed him 8 times a day and he'd still eat cat food left out in a garden...

AIBU to ignore this? My cat...
OP posts:
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5
Scampuss · 27/09/2023 22:43

Shadypaws23 · 27/09/2023 22:27

Cats are shameless
Look at this photo, you think lovely relaxed cat happy in its home right, enjoying the scratch post?

It's not my cat Hmm

This is my not my cat looking at home in my kitchen!

AIBU to ignore this? My cat...
Shadypaws23 · 27/09/2023 22:44

@Scampuss it must be a black and white cat thing!

BlackCatsAreBrilliant · 27/09/2023 22:45

AInightingale · 27/09/2023 21:03

He's a tom cat! We have one of our own, who is so greedy that I have to keep his packets of food in a plastic tub on top of the fridge, or he would open the cupboard, chew a hole in the box, and suck the food out of the sachets.

He is perfectly well fed.

There is a tom cat lives behind us, absolutely huge, who comes through our kitchen window in summer and eats the cat and dog food. His owner actually bought him a collar saying DO NOT FEED.

My cats eat anything, even the suet my neighbour puts out for birds.

It's just what they do, particularly males. Your neighbour sounds batshit frankly, and knows absolutely sweet fa about cats.

Our tom cat is like this. The pouches are now in a plastic tub in the downstairs loo to stop him helping himself (I tried just plastic tub in the kitchen but he still broke into that).

Scampuss · 27/09/2023 22:52

@Shadypaws23 must be!

ultraviolet4753 · 28/09/2023 00:02

I was really chuffed that the hedgehogs were digging into their food in the house I'd bought for them. Two weeks later I saw my cat's arse sticking out of it.

She was a right greedy bugger.

Georgeandzippyzoo · 28/09/2023 00:12

Scampuss · 27/09/2023 20:48

Stick a paper collar on with "I'm a greedy fucker, and I am not starving" perhaps with a link to the book Six Dinner Sid...

Totally thought of '6 dinner sid ' 🐈 !

totallyfedup · 28/09/2023 00:24

My greedy bastard has his breakfast in the morning then likes a taste of the other cats breakfasts just in case he’s missing something then when I get up he will shout very loudly that he never had breakfast ever and will roll around the floor shouting that he is very swiftly becoming nothing but a bag of orange fur and bones. He think DH and I do not speak to each other.

The vet put him on steroids and told me it may make him hungry, I said how will I know the difference? He knocked his slender brother clean off the worktop last week and had been known to eat dog biscuits if he’s really desperate (ie daily)

Shadypaws23 · 28/09/2023 00:46

totallyfedup · 28/09/2023 00:24

My greedy bastard has his breakfast in the morning then likes a taste of the other cats breakfasts just in case he’s missing something then when I get up he will shout very loudly that he never had breakfast ever and will roll around the floor shouting that he is very swiftly becoming nothing but a bag of orange fur and bones. He think DH and I do not speak to each other.

The vet put him on steroids and told me it may make him hungry, I said how will I know the difference? He knocked his slender brother clean off the worktop last week and had been known to eat dog biscuits if he’s really desperate (ie daily)

Oh god, the vet put my elderly skinny boy on steroids
People used to think I didn't feed him because he was only 3kg. One day he ate an entire pack of turkey mince then slept in a food coma for hours
On steroids he just ate food every time I glanced near the kitchen. Think he got to 5 pouches a day at one point. Still 3kg... Blush
I wanted his metabolism

caringcarer · 28/09/2023 01:06

Neverknewidfindmyselfonhere · 27/09/2023 22:23

My cat is super friendly and is always in the street asking to be petted by passers by. He has a thyroid problem and is quite old so he looks a bit thin and dishevelled. Eats like a horse though! We had a couple knock the door and give us 2 boxes of Whiskas (with receipt) as a gift for him. The shame of people thinking we don't feed him enough! He did enjoy his gift though

Wow, that's taking it to another level. Your cat wins the prize for being the best scammer in town. 😂😂😂

caringcarer · 28/09/2023 01:11

A lot of manufacturers of cat food pouches have shunked the amount of food per pouch. It used to be 120 grammes per pouch when pouches first came in. Then it's been 100 grammes per pouch for ages now but I have noticed some manufacturers are now only putting 85 grammes in a pouch. Yet on the box they recommend 300 grammes so really if only 85 grammes 4 pouches not 3 per cat. If owners have not noticed the shrinkage some kitties might be hungry.

Regholdsworthswaterbed · 28/09/2023 08:00

My next door neighbour once found our cat in their living room relaxing on their sofa. He's not so keen since they got a dog!

AnchorWHAT · 28/09/2023 08:23

MyCatIsFatMax · 27/09/2023 20:58

@Angryappendix @HeckyPeck I don't think she's feeding him on purpose, I actually think she's quite annoyed about him eating the food as she's said it's meant for the hedgehogs (even though it's out in the day). I get the impression she thinks if I feed him more he won't eat the cat food she is putting out? Even though he definitely will cos he's a greedy bastard.

They want to be glad his brother, the even greedier bastard, doesn't leave our garden!

If you get to speak to her suggest she uses a large plastic box upside down with a cd sized hole cut in that is big enough for hedgehog but not cats to go over her dish of food, keeps cats and foxes out and stops food from going soggy in the rain.

AInightingale · 28/09/2023 08:54

ultraviolet4753 · 28/09/2023 00:02

I was really chuffed that the hedgehogs were digging into their food in the house I'd bought for them. Two weeks later I saw my cat's arse sticking out of it.

She was a right greedy bugger.

😂

It's interesting the way people's terms of affection for their cats range from 'bastard', 'fucker', 'bugger' and 'scammer'. You'd never guess we were actually quite fond of these animals.

Hecate01 · 28/09/2023 10:08

Obviously this person has never owned a cat. Mine is the biggest scrounger ever no matter how much I feed her. It doesn't help that she was the smallest of her litter and has always looked scrawny despite doing her daily trips around the neighbourhood putting on a sad meow and getting fed by other people 🙄

Blamethecat57 · 28/09/2023 10:27

I have two cats.
Two.
But if left to the neighborhood cats, I would be feeding at least nine.
They stare at me through doors. They creep in when doors are open.
I know all of them have owners,who feed them.
They see my cats food as a challenge!
It doesn't help that they are all related,so don't fight (and alarm me to not my cat!)

I wake up to lots of cats staring at my back door.
You have to be strong. Cats are the most manipulative creatures.
But we all want to stroke the lovely fluffy ginger boy.
Sigh...

MereDintofPandiculation · 28/09/2023 10:35

Shadypaws23 · 27/09/2023 22:44

@Scampuss it must be a black and white cat thing!

Nah. It’s just that black and white cats are incredibly common. I reckon they make up 50% of outdoor cats.

MereDintofPandiculation · 28/09/2023 10:39

Regholdsworthswaterbed · 28/09/2023 08:00

My next door neighbour once found our cat in their living room relaxing on their sofa. He's not so keen since they got a dog!

One of our cats went missing. He was found half a mile away having entered a house, walked past the dog, and settled himself on the owner’s bed.

our current cats have adopted next door’s sun-soaked balcony. Poor dog left in the adjacent kitchen - drives him mad

VickyEadieofThigh · 28/09/2023 10:40

Scampuss · 27/09/2023 20:48

Stick a paper collar on with "I'm a greedy fucker, and I am not starving" perhaps with a link to the book Six Dinner Sid...

I'd get one made with that on if it were mine!

ManateeFair · 28/09/2023 10:50

Your neighbour is being ridiculous and yes, I would ignore it.

I chucked a cold chicken leg out for our local fox once and then witnessed it being carried away by a very fat and happy cat (sorry if you're one of my neighbours and came down in the morning to find a greasy chicken bone on your rug). Of course if you put out food that cats might like, cats might pinch it and of course cats don't have to hungry to eat something. Anyone who thinks a cat is starving because they're eating some free cat food is mad.

oakleaffy · 23/12/2023 05:09

Scampuss · 27/09/2023 20:48

Stick a paper collar on with "I'm a greedy fucker, and I am not starving" perhaps with a link to the book Six Dinner Sid...

Absolutely this.
Kitten food left out for a hedgehog?
Of COURSE any cat is going to help itself.

Six Dinner Sid.

Why are people so dim .

Cats will eat and eat especially kitten food.

DreamTheMoors · 23/12/2023 05:24

Get a personalised collar that says “SERIAL FOOD KILLER.”

Firefly2009 · 23/12/2023 06:08

My beloved cat who is no longer alive, used to eat anything and everything and wandered everywhere being super friendly.

I fell out with a neighbour who refused to stop letting him eat her cat food or allowing him into her house. He’d sometimes go missing for days thanks to this lady who was at home all day.

The last straw was when I explained he had food allergies (true) but she still wouldn’t relent. In the end I had to make him an indoor cat and I took him for walks instead. Controversial but necessary in our case.

Neighbours can be very problematic where cats are concerned.Every message in his collar made no difference.

Anycrispsleft · 23/12/2023 06:45

Shadypaws23 · 27/09/2023 22:44

@Scampuss it must be a black and white cat thing!

Can confirm it is definitely a black and white cat thing. This is Carlos. He includes us in his morning and evening patrols. He will come in and have a sleep on the sofa if it's quiet but his favourite thing is to go down to the cellar and sit on a shelf among the kids' teddy bears like a furry e.t.

AIBU to ignore this? My cat...
felinelucky · 23/12/2023 06:58

Silly neighbour. Cats are going to cat. And of course kitten food is yummy and high cal, so if course he's going to scarf it down.

Ladyj84 · 23/12/2023 07:06

Typical cat behaviour if there's food about they will gobble it lol