Page 5 | AIBU to steal the cat

ChilliNoodleGoodness · 2023-10-20T12:08:16+00:00

I know IABU and I would never do it but I feel so sorry for it. A neighbour of mine has a few cats, one of which became pregnant and had kittens. One of the kittens she kept has gone on to have her own kittens - she is so small too. She gave birth a few months back and is pregnant again! She is covered in fleas and worms and always crying outside peoples houses. Have asked Cats Protection for advice and they have provided me with details of cheap neutering which I have anonymously posted through her door. Part of me wants to just take the cat to the vets and get her treatment and have her speyed but I know in real life that is not the best thing to do :( WWYD?

stayathomer · 22/10/2023 16:05

You possibly won’t get help from rescues, they’re full to capacity and when we rang about a stray they said it’s policy to fix and then let them out again (am in Ireland might be different with you) I’d say go in and talk to ndn and as someone said above tell them you’ve had people asking and they’re threatening calling a warden.

CatChant · 22/10/2023 16:21

Steal her. She is neglected and likely to have a short, wretched life churning out more kittens who will be just as unwanted as she is, until her poor little body wears out.

Don’t offer to pay her horrible owner because that would just encourage her not to spay her cats.

Ibizafun · 22/10/2023 17:28

CatChant · 22/10/2023 16:21

Steal her. She is neglected and likely to have a short, wretched life churning out more kittens who will be just as unwanted as she is, until her poor little body wears out.

Don’t offer to pay her horrible owner because that would just encourage her not to spay her cats.

This totally. Please do it.. for your conscience and the poor baby

PurpleStar22 · 22/10/2023 20:45

Normally wouldn’t condone stealing, but in these circumstances I absolutely would. People who fail to spay their cats make me so incredibly angry. There are so many unwanted kittens, and babies having babies. It’s just not fair. If you got her spayed and helped her recover, the NDN may not want her anymore if she can’t make a quick buck
off her

NegativNancy · 22/10/2023 20:49

I stole cats once. MN ripped me to shreds lol. No regrets though. It was a litter of three kittens on the farm I rented a cottage on. They had dozens of cats who kept breeding and they all had these horrible eye infections. Once I came home and one was dead on the road, so when one had kittens in my shed I had no hesitation in getting a cat charity come and collect them. All three had to have en eye removed because of the infection, but amazingly all were re-homed together.
Do it.

OnTheBoardwalk · 22/10/2023 21:38

Isthisasgoodasitis · 22/10/2023 09:48

My old cat was taken off my drive by a neighbour’s visitor despite being microchipped and in good health other than being 19 she was euthanised absolutely nothing was done to those who murdered my cat stolen from my property cctv showed person their car and the fight my cat put up but they still took her … so do it give the cat half a chance

Did they contact you via the microchip info? It’s so wrong they did this

a friend had a 20 year old cat that looked ragged round the edges but was in good health and no pain. A neighbour like yours stole it from the wall and it was quickly brought home

have you made a formal complaint to the vet about your chipped cat?

DangerousAlchemy · 23/10/2023 08:19

Isthisasgoodasitis · 22/10/2023 09:48

My old cat was taken off my drive by a neighbour’s visitor despite being microchipped and in good health other than being 19 she was euthanised absolutely nothing was done to those who murdered my cat stolen from my property cctv showed person their car and the fight my cat put up but they still took her … so do it give the cat half a chance

That is so awful @Isthisasgoodasitis 💔😪 I can't believe a vet would do this! So wrong. My old cat was taken to the vet once by a well-meaning petson on nearby road and another time someone tried to take him but my neighbour stopped them. He was a skinny rescue cat with kidney issues so he did look a little bit old and neglected. Though the horrible woman who got in a big argument with my neighbour didn't even bother knocking on any doors in our small close first 🙄 She saw him, drove home & got a cat carrier then came back to grab him. Weird. It never crossed my mind a vet coud have put him to sleep. I'm so sorry - hope you can report that vet somehow.

nanamoo · 23/10/2023 13:27

PabloandGustheGreySquirrels · 21/10/2023 12:39

Absolutely nothing will be done. RSPCA's bar for intervention is eyewateringly low. It's not the same as social services. If they have 'any' roof over their head and food & water then they're not interested. Yes, really

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Yeh the RSPCA are great at doing nothing 😡There was a local case quite a few years ago here. A field of horses that had been flooded for months and the poor horses had no shelter. The parts of the field that wasn't flooded was still waterlogged with puddles, so they had nowhere they could go to get out of the water (it was almost to their knees in places) and nowhere for food to be out that didn't get soaked. The RSPCA were happy to leave them like that because they had a small patch of the field that wasn't flooded😡

GhostOfChristmasPudding · 23/10/2023 13:29

Hipp0campus · 20/10/2023 13:29

Don't bother with RSPCA.

Find your local cat/dog rescue and contact them explaining the situation.
They may be able to offer the owner a surrender form which would then mean poor cat gets vet treatments and proper care and eventually spayed too.

100% do this. Our little cat came from a local cat rescue - her mother was only a seven month old kitten herself when she gave birth, and it might have been the fate of our cat too, had someone not reported it. The cat rescue came out and arranged for the cats to be surrendered over to them, and they rehomed them all after neutering and nursing many of them back to health. (There were two pregnant cats in the household, and many kittens).

Otter1971 · 23/10/2023 14:43

If my partners experience is anything to go by, should they actually be chipped the vet may refuse. Rspca probably better.

SaviourofSchoolUniform · 23/10/2023 16:14

This sounds like my daughter's boyfriends mum. He cat has been pregnant about 6 times they aren't allowed into the house and she doesn't feed them either. It honestly sounds just like her! My daughter conspired with me when one of the cats had a litter to steal it and take them all to the cat shelter, but the kittens were killed and the cat couldn't be caught whilst she was out.
I'd say report her, but saying that, the woman I know only gets another one or keeps one of the kittens and then just leaves it. She also has a dog that gets fed whatever they have for tea. One time she went away and my daughter looked after the dog. There was no food for her and she had to go out and buy it food. It doesn't get walked and is locked in the kitchen all day.

Superhair · 23/10/2023 21:39

@SaviourofSchoolUniform Can you or your daughter not speak to her ? I have a neighbour like this and I did kidnap the cats, because she’s very hostile and aggressive if anyone approaches her. I just don’t understand what they get out of doing it. The cats are not allowed in and the kittens basically go feral due to lack of interaction. I just wish the RSPCA would prosecute these arseholes instead of leaving it to smaller charities to sort.

DangerousAlchemy · 24/10/2023 07:59

SaviourofSchoolUniform · 23/10/2023 16:14

This sounds like my daughter's boyfriends mum. He cat has been pregnant about 6 times they aren't allowed into the house and she doesn't feed them either. It honestly sounds just like her! My daughter conspired with me when one of the cats had a litter to steal it and take them all to the cat shelter, but the kittens were killed and the cat couldn't be caught whilst she was out.
I'd say report her, but saying that, the woman I know only gets another one or keeps one of the kittens and then just leaves it. She also has a dog that gets fed whatever they have for tea. One time she went away and my daughter looked after the dog. There was no food for her and she had to go out and buy it food. It doesn't get walked and is locked in the kitchen all day.

@SaviourofSchoolUniform she doesn't feed the pregnant Mum or the kittens at all!!! 😡😡 so the Mum is scavenging food or begging from neighbours?? That makes me furious to read that! & they are never allowed indoors? So they obviously are riddled with fleas & worms and unvaccinated and the poor Mum probably can't feed those kittens properly as she's undernourished too. I don't understand what that woman gets out of 'owning' cats?? I'm guessing she sells the weak, sick little kittens?

DangerousAlchemy · 24/10/2023 08:09

nanamoo · 23/10/2023 13:27

Yeh the RSPCA are great at doing nothing 😡There was a local case quite a few years ago here. A field of horses that had been flooded for months and the poor horses had no shelter. The parts of the field that wasn't flooded was still waterlogged with puddles, so they had nowhere they could go to get out of the water (it was almost to their knees in places) and nowhere for food to be out that didn't get soaked. The RSPCA were happy to leave them like that because they had a small patch of the field that wasn't flooded😡

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I heard that the RSPCA are one of the richest charities in the UK yet about 70% of donations go towards admin & salaries etc. The charity I foster for (Animal Support Angels - Hertfordshire based) helps out local RSPCA officers as we have lots of donated pet food & supplies etc in lots of lock ups &an RSPCA lady I've met a few times there always introduces herself as 'I'm so & so from the RSPCA - the nice RSPCA though' etc. Even some of our local vets regularly turn away stray cats brought in by members of the public. The vet we use are brilliant & spent a whole Saturday neutering a bunch of strays that were brought in. There is helps available & Cats Protection league have neutering vouchers so it only costs £10 if the owner is on any kind of benefits/pension/full time student or earns under £25,000.

Superhair · 24/10/2023 08:31

DangerousAlchemy · 24/10/2023 07:59

@SaviourofSchoolUniform she doesn't feed the pregnant Mum or the kittens at all!!! 😡😡 so the Mum is scavenging food or begging from neighbours?? That makes me furious to read that! & they are never allowed indoors? So they obviously are riddled with fleas & worms and unvaccinated and the poor Mum probably can't feed those kittens properly as she's undernourished too. I don't understand what that woman gets out of 'owning' cats?? I'm guessing she sells the weak, sick little kittens?

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This is what my neighbour is like. The husband is under the impression that cats can look after themselves I.e. hunt food, so they’re never fed. They’re not let indoors. The cats were constantly pregnant. This summer I had 20 cats, including x 2 litters in my garden scrounging for food. I just started neutering and rehoming them myself after spending nearly 2 years trying to get the RSPCA to do what they purport to do when begging for money. The local rescues have been inundated this year, so they where at capacity and couldn’t help. It’s more common than you think and lord only know what these people get out of pet ownership.

DangerousAlchemy · 24/10/2023 08:47

Superhair · 24/10/2023 08:31

This is what my neighbour is like. The husband is under the impression that cats can look after themselves I.e. hunt food, so they’re never fed. They’re not let indoors. The cats were constantly pregnant. This summer I had 20 cats, including x 2 litters in my garden scrounging for food. I just started neutering and rehoming them myself after spending nearly 2 years trying to get the RSPCA to do what they purport to do when begging for money. The local rescues have been inundated this year, so they where at capacity and couldn’t help. It’s more common than you think and lord only know what these people get out of pet ownership.

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It's just so sad @Superhair 😞 there might be local charities that have a network of fosterers (like me) that might be able to help. We will always squeeze emergencies in even if we're full - some fosterers have cats in their bathrooms for a few days etc as well as in their official cat room. Thank you so much for all the help you've provided with your neighbour's cats 💗 Those poor cats will all be in-bred too. It's so heart-breaking 😪

hotcandle · 24/10/2023 08:51

I have had two local neighbourhood cats neutered. Both are owned by people who otherwise wouldn't have done it.

MaryJanesonabreak · 24/10/2023 19:25

This is the equivalent of a stray cat. Your NDN would not be in the slightest bit concerned if the cat went missing.
Get the cat sorted, give it to your SIL,
If the neighbour comes knocking, deny all knowledge.

Kimten · 25/10/2023 10:03

Yes, spay, give away to lovely home.
Plausible deniability.

chloe1656 · 26/10/2023 22:38

End of the day the poor cats welfare is not being met - if the owner was good they would be preventing pregnancies - not to mention the fleas. If you can - absolutely do it! Xxx

jedwardscissorhands27 · 26/10/2023 22:41

I don't think it's questionable at all. The cat is clearly being neglected. The RSPCA won't be interested so you either ignore it or help the poor cat. If you don't it'll probably end up diseased, suffering or dead. The moral rights of the scumbag owner would be the least of my concerns.

LancashireSquirrel · 26/10/2023 23:01

How's it going, OL? How's Whiskers?

Datafan55 · 27/10/2023 20:15

I was wondering too.

And also from a practical pov, how to take the cat away without it being spotted by a NDN... Carrier concealed temporarily in a large microwave box or something?

Original poster

ChilliNoodleGoodness · 02/11/2023 11:23

Sorry for the delay in updating, I have had a manic (non cat related) few weeks.

So! I can't remember if I told you but I had contacted Cats Protection for advice, they told me to tell her about the neutering and speying programme for £10.00. I gently broached it with her and gave her a leaflet - said it came through my door but my boy was neutered at a few months old so not needed.

She was pleasant enough but I sensed some attitude from her. She said the cat is not pregnant as had been kept in.

I kidnapped the cat and took her to the vets, she is not microchipped. She isn't pregnant but had a belly full of worms. I got meds and gave it to her.

I didn't see the cat for about 2 weeks, then she returned with a shaved patch on her side, she has been speyed.

I was getting out of my car last night and neighbour was getting out of a mutual neighbours car (mutual neighbour was previously moaning to me about the cat and I had a bitch back, saying that I feed her all the time). Cat owner declared loudly as the cat approached "come on whiskers, give it a rest, you've had your two meals today" and gave me a look.

So it appears I have made a bit of an enemy out of her lol Going to monitor the situation before making any decisions, see how often she is left out in the winter. If I was to take her now, she would know its me, and at least she has had her speyed.

Until then, there will always be a warm spot on my sofa, and an open window.

OP posts:

DangerousAlchemy · 02/11/2023 12:06

Thanks for the update OP! & many thanks for whisking the cat off to the vets too 👏💗. Thank goodness the owner finally got her spayed- it will be a legal requirement to get all cats microchipped (over a certain age) by June 2024 though too so i wonder if she'll bother doing that? (or maybe she had her microchipoed when they neutered her?). Keep us posted if anything else happens or if you decide to 'steal' the lovely cat in the future. Honestly some people just shouldn't own pets!