People who pick up ‘lost cats’

[SweeetFemaleAttitude]

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.

These people that lift healthy cats are crazy.

But I had a wry smile. Anyone remember the story of Jenny the horse from Germany? The owner had to put a note around her neck because people thought she was a stray 🤦🏻‍♀️

We have a black cat that refuses to wear a collar. We tried from when he was young. Only cat I've ever had who just can't cope with a collar. Full on acting like we've tried to kill him/ hiding from us/ looking all wounded. Wouldn't mind if he were some feral creature, but he's pathetic and the epitome of a scaredy cat.

He's chipped and clearly a well fed, good looking lad, but I do worry someone will think he's theirs and snaffle him

We have self appointed cat rescuers round here. They've set up a cat charity where they claim to rehome cats however won't re-home to anyone near a main road which basically rules out this entire area. They all have scanners and there have been lengthy arguments on Facebook over who will scan today's well fed waif.

Our local Facebook page has its uses though - this week a cat has taken a trip on the tram and thanks to a Facebook post has been assisted with a trip back home again.

You both sound lovely! Not! Wouldn’t let me reply directly

I got a message from the local cat scanner woman asking if my cat had been out
Me "yes... why?"
Her "oh someone said they saw a scraggy black cat sauntering down the road and I knew the minute they said sauntering it was yours"
Me - "FFS"

Oh this pops up on my local forum often.

I think people do this because they simply do not understand how cats operate, and because they love the attention they get from being the cat's saviour.

I have a cat but she doesn't go outside. She's very antisocial with strangers and hates being picked up by anyone, her human family included. I'd love to see anyone try & steal her, she'd rip their arm to shreds.

I watched a documentary some years ago about cat territories and one cat was found to have a roaming area of about 6 square miles. Cats being taken from front steps and walls is such a stupid thing to do. They love to be outside (well, not my one) and roaming.

Or this would-be pony rescuers story from a few years ago

www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/mar/12/short-legged-horse-rescue-mayflower

I have a slightly different approach. I've met a couple of very friendly cats in the village that run up and Velcro themselves to me or follow as I'm walking.

I leave the cat where it is. But I take a photo and post it on Facebook with the caption "Is this your cat? We're buddies now. If you message me your address, I'll make sure she doesn't follow me too far."

I get cuddles, cat gets a fuss and owner gets to keep cat. Everyone wins.

@GEK1983
Hundreds of Pounds on accessories? Crikey.

Keep your cat in a cat proofed garden and it won't happen. My next door neighbours used to have 4 outdoor cats, one of them came back foaming at the mouth and seizing after it was poisoned, one of them was killed by a dog, one of them ended up halfway down the country after it got lost for 6 months and is now a strict house cat, and they still let the remaining one out for some reason. I walk at odd hours in the summer with my dogs and I see a couple of knocked over cats a month, a few still alive and dragging by their front legs. I own pedigree cats who don't show any want to wander beyond their cat proofed garden because they're not bred from unaltered parents who are semi feral and allowed to wander and reproduce

It should be noted that not all gardens can be cat proofed.
My cats thus far have avoided getting kidnapped by misguided do-gooders (or plain cat thieves), and have also avoided coming to untimely deaths on the road. Yes there is risk in letting cats roam, but I believe a short fulfilled life for an animal is better than a long boring life.

I did bring in a real stray today that was living in the bushes by my house. Poor little gus… but yeah If you are able to randomly pick up a stray cat and bring them somewhere they are not stray.

this little guy is starting his new adventure today hopefully to be a fat house cat soon.

pics from the rescue mission

My cat was picked up from outside my gate luckily I seen out window and went out, person thought she was lost as she has seen my cat hanging around outside our house everyday this week.

Oh yeah @SweeetFemaleAttitude this does my head in. There is a post on my community FB group every sodding week like this. Cats wander and they roam FFS! Post a pic of your own cat who is lost yes, but don't grab a random cat and keep it in your house and then ask everyone if they know whose it is! 95% of the time, it will find its way home.

One woman I know, has 2 cats of her own, (she used to have 4 - but 2 died in 2020 and 2022.) Every few months she puts a photo on facebook of a random cat she has let into her house saying 'old ginger here has made our house his home...' and then 'now we have 'old tabbytoes.. he has been wandering around our garden for 2 days so we have been feeding him and here he is now in front of our fire!'

Rinse and repeat with several other cats. She just feeds them and allows them in her house and they basically stay! She gets 'oh hun U R so kind, taking in these kitties' type posts! But these are almost 100% someone else's bloody cats! The people who own them are probably not on facebook so are not able to put any posts on asking if anyone has seen their cat. Batshit!

That photo is horrific :( I can’t believe cats are kept is such tiny cages. He’d probably be happier as a stray.

Oh settle down it was a humane live trap.

He was then brought to the rescue that will give him medical care and put him up for adoption. You’d rather he takes his chances with coyotes and -28 C weather?

To help you sleep tonight he was in the cage for 30 min total.

A large percentage of the public are idiots. They see these posts and have to copy the behaviour themselves. Like an additiction to permforance caring.

That’s an interesting point. In the last few years there’s been a lot of hysteria demanding that cats be kept prisoners in catios, or worse, houses/flats, instead of being allowed to roam as they have always done. Perhaps this attitude also comes over from America, where most houses/gardens are much bigger than in England.

‘But cats kill birds’ 😱

Bah, not as many as humans do. How do you think all that chicken gets in the supermarket every day?

@saltinesandcoffeecups that tiny grey kitten is soooo cute! 😍

I would advertise him on facebook or something though, as he may actually be someone else's We had a cat wandering around for a week or two in our streey some months ago, and my neighbour put his pic on facebook, and it turned out he belonged to someone 2 miles away. Went for a wander and went too far... Went missing 2 months earlier!

*Oh settle down it was a humane live trap.

He was then brought to the rescue that will give him medical care and put him up for adoption. You’d rather he takes his chances with coyotes and -28 C weather?

To help you sleep tonight he was in the cage for 30 min total.*

Wow I’m so sorry for being worried about a cat. You don’t know how long it’ll take to put him up for adoption. I obviously would want him to be warm at night but it’s still cruel to keep them in cages & not allow them out during the day (and I’m not talking short periods).

I hate this. I have lost a few cats to idiotic well meaning members of the public.
The most recent was my elderly mog who had several food allergies and a thyroid issue. He was unkempt, but very happy. He kept staying out longer and longer then never came back. I found out that the local "cat rescuer" (and she was always on about how cats were attracted to her.. and boasted she had about 15 staying with her), had been worried about my cat's appearance/condition took him to to vets and had him PTS.

That’s awful @XenoBitch I’m so sorry.

The poster said this cat was in the cage for 30 minutes! It's even there in her post you quoted.

I think we have a lot of predators and busy streets, but yeah I grew up with indoor/outdoor cats, now mine are strictly indoor and I feel bad about it but we live close to a few busy streets and yeah.. our coyotes eat small dogs, so they are indoor.

We have a few family cats in the neighborhood that are roamers their poor owners spend a lot of time picking up their cat from random vets where people have taken him.