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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

People who pick up ‘lost cats’

189 replies

SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 08:48

Wtf is their thought process? All our local Facebook groups have a stream of a version of ‘I just found this cat…’ and a picture of a healthy calm cat.
They take them home, then post they have them and are looking for the owners. They drop them at the vets, or they post their location for other nutters to go find the cat. Or they decide it’s hungry and feed it every day. Today’s post that triggered this moan says ‘I just found this cat at xxxx. Seems friendly, where can I take it for scanning’. Has a picture of an adult cat being stroked on someone’s lap that looks healthy.
The better end just get them scanned, though even that tbh I don’t get for a one off encounter with a healthy cat.
It’s once in a blue moon there’s a reason like the cat has an injury, or seems neglected or is in an unsafe location or has moved into their garden full time.
I’m on all the local lost cat groups and fb just because I have a friendly cat. Last year he went missing for four weeks due to being taken in, he’s also been fed at numerous other houses over the years who’ve decided he’s a (very fat) stray (in robust health). None scanned him, though one tracked him here and said he was their stray they’d taken in after I’d had to shave off some matts in his fur.

OP posts:
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minipie · 06/11/2023 08:51

I can only think there are some non cat owners out there who think uncollared cat=stray.

This did used to be the case back in the 70s/80s, pet cats all had collars as I recall, until the safety issues became more widely known.

Either that or people are idiots 🤷‍♀️

Rakszasa · 06/11/2023 08:53

YABU and I have a solution. Keep cats at home, where they should be, and make them garden enclosure so they can explore the outside if you think that's what they need. Safer for your cat, better for you, as you'd spend more time with it, and less of a nuisance for wildlife and everyone else who has to experience your cats wandering wherever they want.

OnlyFannys · 06/11/2023 08:53

They are bonkers honestly. Happened once to me I got a call from the vet saying someone had brought my cat in as lost, she had only gone outside that morning and I'd be roaming the streets looking for her because she was put later than usual. I was mortified and apologised to the vet and the receptionist said "don't worry this woman brings in 2-3 "lost" cats per week so we don't take her to seriously we just scan and return"

Original poster
SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 08:55

OnlyFannys · 06/11/2023 08:53

They are bonkers honestly. Happened once to me I got a call from the vet saying someone had brought my cat in as lost, she had only gone outside that morning and I'd be roaming the streets looking for her because she was put later than usual. I was mortified and apologised to the vet and the receptionist said "don't worry this woman brings in 2-3 "lost" cats per week so we don't take her to seriously we just scan and return"

Reminds me of the time my cat was picked up off my garden wall 🙄
Nearly forgot, luckily the vets is the other end of the road so not a hassle too much

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:55

It's a pity cats can't all wear collars with tags like dogs do, they seem more in need of them.

Could be worse. In the days before chips, db picked up his black male cat from his garden and took him for that trip to the vets. Returned home to find his black cat in the garden...!!

Original poster
SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 08:56

minipie · 06/11/2023 08:51

I can only think there are some non cat owners out there who think uncollared cat=stray.

This did used to be the case back in the 70s/80s, pet cats all had collars as I recall, until the safety issues became more widely known.

Either that or people are idiots 🤷‍♀️

I’ve found they are idiots and bloody minded. I’ve tried the collars. One was feeding it still because ‘someone else was putting a collar on him but I didn’t know they were feeding him’.

OP posts:
youveturnedupwelldone · 06/11/2023 08:57

We used to have this happen with our cat all the time, pre Facebook so we'd spend quite a lot of time knocking on local doors to find her. She was a very pretty, friendly cat and it turned out she had several "homes" in the local area! But it was really annoying people happily "took her in as a stray cat" when she was obviously well fed, very happy and most of the time had an ID tag on. People are annoying and weird at times but at least the likes of Facebook and Nextdoor make it a bit easier these days to find which nutter took your cat this time.

Ohmych · 06/11/2023 08:57

In my local area a woman took a cat to the vets saying it was a stray in bad condition that she'd found outside a shop. The elderly owner was in the shop. She didn't take it to the local vets it was miles away.

It was all over Facebook but he doesn't have Facebook so didn't know until someone told him. The cat was at the vets all weekend until he could get a lift to get it back.

BananaHamster · 06/11/2023 08:58

My neighbour 4 doors down did this to one of my cats.
Posted on Facebook a hour after I let him out "he seems to be very hungry, I'm going to take him to the vets."
Luckily I saw it in time and went and knocked on their door for him and told them he's not hungry, he's just fat. 😬
All 3 of mine are house cats since that day, just can't trust people!

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:58

I’ve found they are idiots and bloody minded. I’ve tried the collars. One was feeding it still because ‘someone else was putting a collar on him but I didn’t know they were feeding him’.

Maybe you need to add a label saying 'this cat has a home, please don't feed him'. That's what a friend did when his cat returned home wearing a collar someone else had put on it.

Original poster
SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 08:59

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:55

It's a pity cats can't all wear collars with tags like dogs do, they seem more in need of them.

Could be worse. In the days before chips, db picked up his black male cat from his garden and took him for that trip to the vets. Returned home to find his black cat in the garden...!!

Locally to me a cat was out to sleep in some very confusing circumstances that have blown up on fb. I can’t know the truth but it’s being reported that the family told a vet they could no longer care for their healthy cat, but he actually belongs to a family. They swear he’s chipped. I don’t know the full truth of it all, but something has happened that the local cat charity have said they are trying to investigate what happened and how. So it seems there’s some truth at least

OP posts:
Original poster
SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 09:00

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:58

I’ve found they are idiots and bloody minded. I’ve tried the collars. One was feeding it still because ‘someone else was putting a collar on him but I didn’t know they were feeding him’.

Maybe you need to add a label saying 'this cat has a home, please don't feed him'. That's what a friend did when his cat returned home wearing a collar someone else had put on it.

It was a do not feed one!

OP posts:
TerribleWoman · 06/11/2023 09:00

My cat was literally taken away and given to the RSPCA by a busybody on my road. They thought she was a young cat who was being starved because she was skinny. In fact she was a 15 year old cat with severe hyperthyroid and a chicken allergy they didn't know about.
Never forgiven them. They didn't even put a note through our door. Our cat simply disappeared. We only found out what had happened days later after I put up "missing" posters. We did get her back. The arrogance and high handedness of that person still amazes me.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 09:01

It was a do not feed one!

Ah, bloody minded idiots for sure.

BananaHamster · 06/11/2023 09:03

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:55

It's a pity cats can't all wear collars with tags like dogs do, they seem more in need of them.

Could be worse. In the days before chips, db picked up his black male cat from his garden and took him for that trip to the vets. Returned home to find his black cat in the garden...!!

It's not safe for them to wear collars; I've seen many cats get stuck in trees or on fences because of collars. Unfortunately the shops don't seem to have much sense selling the ones that break when caught!

DRS1970 · 06/11/2023 09:04

This annoys the f### out of me too. Cats roam, let them be unless they look injured or obviously ill. One of ours went missing a while ago for 4 days. It turned out a similar weirdo hat took him in, then decided a few days later to go to the vets, who scanned him, then contacted us, and promptly charged us £50 to get him back! Best bit was he was only in a house that almost backs onto ours. I went round and told them they were idiots.

jesshomeEd · 06/11/2023 09:05

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:55

It's a pity cats can't all wear collars with tags like dogs do, they seem more in need of them.

Could be worse. In the days before chips, db picked up his black male cat from his garden and took him for that trip to the vets. Returned home to find his black cat in the garden...!!

Lots of cats (mine!) just remove the collars unfortunately. You can't have a collar that is impossible to remove as there's a risk of strangulation or them getting a leg stuck through it etc.

BlackberrySky · 06/11/2023 09:06

I would like to know how a cat "looks lost". My Nextdoor is awash with photos of healthy looking cats in people's gardens and the inevitable "found this cat in my garden, it looks lost". Just looks like a normal cat to me!

CalistoNoSolo · 06/11/2023 09:07

YABU to have a pet and let it wander around shitting in other people's gardens and being a nuisance. If you don't want your cat going elsewhere keep it in and under control.

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 09:11

Yes I know cats can't all wear collars because of safety/escaping them, its just a pity as it would solve some of the problems if they could. Though not the bloody minded idiots who ignore them!

purpleme12 · 06/11/2023 09:13

I think I agree.
I think it's worrying.
You can tell when a cat looks looked after or more like a stray.

hologramvirus · 06/11/2023 09:14

I had no idea people do this!
I assume they are lonely people without much going on in life and doing this gives them a sense of usefulness and purpose.

Original poster
SweeetFemaleAttitude · 06/11/2023 09:17

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 09:11

Yes I know cats can't all wear collars because of safety/escaping them, its just a pity as it would solve some of the problems if they could. Though not the bloody minded idiots who ignore them!

I’ve tried a fair few of the ones that are designed to come off… the problem being that they constantly come off 😏

OP posts:
MonumentalLentil · 06/11/2023 09:22

ErrolTheDragon · 06/11/2023 08:55

It's a pity cats can't all wear collars with tags like dogs do, they seem more in need of them.

Could be worse. In the days before chips, db picked up his black male cat from his garden and took him for that trip to the vets. Returned home to find his black cat in the garden...!!

That doesn't stop them though.
Moved to a semi rural house and adopted a cat who was an ex stray but had been an outdoor cat by all accounts. He had some issues so was best off with outdoor access, and given that there were only a few houses and a lot of space it didn't seem to be a problem.

Until someone removed the tag on his collar, then phoned me to say they had our cat. They lived next door. I went and brought him back, after that it was fine, or so I thought.

I replaced the tag, it went again, replaced again, collar went, replaced it, tag went. It continued. He was a friendly cat and loved company. I figured out where he was coming back from when I called him home and when he didn't come back for ages and I had to stand outside the houses calling him. In the end built a catio to keep him from being fed crap and taken in.

Not long after a lookalike cat appeared on the wall of the cottage where he had been visiting/was being taken in, so they finally got their own cat when they couldn't steal mine.

Facebook and local groups are full of 'this cat is in my garden, does anyone own it?' posts, but also some really sad, and injured ones, and luckily the sensible people sort them out and the ones that need help are helped.

VeridicalVagabond · 06/11/2023 09:25

We're quite rural and have what I suppose you'd call "barn cats" who have quite large territories and do wander. One of our girls Winnie was "adopted" by someone in the village who found her wandering about (she was technically on our land at the time but it's got a footpath running through it so a lot of people don't realise). She took the cat home, named her, bought a load of stuff for her.

When Winnie got fed up of her new owner she escaped and came home and the girl was posting all over social media desperately trying to find "her" cat. I had to contact her and let her down gently that Winnie wasn't a stray and she'd taken her from our land and that she couldn't have her back. She was VERY unimpressed.

Unfortunately with roaming cats it can happen, people just don't realise that they're not like dogs and are quite happy being a bit nomadic.