Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

not to offer to pay the man who took my cat to be neutered without discussing it with me

279 replies

powpow · 25/03/2009 20:14

basically my cat came home last night neutered.
We had no idea what had happened or who had taken him.
I called 11 vets in the area until I found the one where it was done.
A neighbor has been feeding our cat and took him to be done. My cat broke through this guys catflap to come home to us where he feels safe. He wasn't missing. We saw him Monday night and he came home tuesday night.

Most of the cats running around the neighborhood have no collar but I would never take them to the vet unless they were hurt!
he said my cat has been coming around for a few months. He never once tried to find out who he belonged to.
We had taken off his collar because it kept getting tighter and tighter on his neck and getting caught on the fences.
But he was very obviously well taken care of, groomed and happy.
We were waiting a few more months to neuter him and would have taken him to the clinic that does it for free.
This guy paid £280.
I don't think I should have to pay for this.
AIBU?

OP posts:
Original poster
powpow · 25/03/2009 20:23

differentID - that's what my husband thinks as well. I have this weird guilt thing and I sort of feel bad that he's paid this money for someone else's cat.
But we feel violated in a way!

OP posts:
edam · 25/03/2009 20:23

is the cat microchipped? Because the vet should have checked. Make sure they didn't bloody well put a chip in with your rotten neighbour's details on!

(If not chipped, get it done, IF you can persuade the poor moggy to go anywhere near a vet's again...)

BarbaraWoodlouse · 25/03/2009 20:23

My cat doesn't wear a collar. He used to but came home without them so many times it just go silly. And expensive.

I'd still be bloody annoyed if somebody took it upon themselves to taking him to the vets for anything other than an accident though. If someone wanted to know where he belonged to they could ask around and find out very easily.

Idrankthechristmasspirits · 25/03/2009 20:24

dont pay but get your cat chipped and put a collar on it.
Write formally to the neighbour forbidding him from attempting any further medical treatment of your cat and further forbidding him from taking or encouraging your cat into his home.

i am angry on your behalf, he sounds like a loon.

Milliways · 25/03/2009 20:25

It cost less than that when I took our neighbours cat to vet (they were on holiday and he returned after being missing for weeks) and he had various treatment including anaesthetic, X-ray AND neutering whilst he was already on table!!

Original poster
powpow · 25/03/2009 20:27

The neighbor has not yet asked for me to pay, although he did mention how much it cost.
I confirmed the cost with the vet.
He wasn't chipped (getting it done next week)
he wasn't wearing a collar.
Most of the cats in the neighborhood do not wear collars. They all roam about trying to get some extra food. I don't feed them.
My neighbor has been feeding him. And now felt the urge to neuter him without finding out who he belonged to.
I know I should have chipped him or had a collar but I didn't.
I still wouldn't do this to a neighborhood cat without finding out who he belonged to.

OP posts:
NotanOtter · 25/03/2009 20:30

£35 for a male neuter

someone is taking the piss!

Thunderduck · 25/03/2009 20:30

The vet charges £280 for a cat to be neutered?!

At any other vet you could have 5 or 6 cats done for that price. Surely that can't be right. I've never heard of a price that came even close to that figure.

spicemonster · 25/03/2009 20:30

That's bloody weird behaviour. There is a little ginger tom that keeps coming round here who has still got his knackers and while I think all male cats should be neutered, I wouldn't dream of taking him to the vets to have him done. He's obviously well fed. My two cats don't wear collars either - they have got bald patches on their necks and I took them off because their skin was becoming irritated.

wannaBe · 25/03/2009 20:35

sorry but I don't believe this.

It doesn't cost £280 to newter a cat - no vet would get away with charging that.

If this man has newtered your cat he will have pre-arranged to take him in, you don't just feed a cat on monday night and take it to the vet on tuesday morning.

traceybath · 25/03/2009 20:43

how did he realise it was your cat? am presuming he thought it was his cat that he'd adopted . . . as seems only possible sensible explanation to me

Sorrento · 25/03/2009 20:48

If a cat is micro chipped are the vets supposed to contact the owners before performing any sort of treatment ?

I ask because our pedigree cat has basically left home and moved in with a neighbour and they threw into conversation that he'd been neutered, he's an active breeding cat
Not sure who I ought to be cross with ?

chegirl · 25/03/2009 21:04

No dont pay him. He should not have been feeding your cat. If he knows anything about cats he would have been very aware he was luring him away from you.

I have decided not to get anymore cats. I have lost three this way in the last 4 years. All were micro chipped, neutered and very healthy looking so could not have been mistaken for strays.

Yet people still think its ok to feed the poor little things . One woman turned up on my doorstep contrite because she had taken MY cat to the vets for vaccinations and the vet had scanned him. She had been feeding him for weeks and told me she thought he was a stray (yeah right). Turns out he looked exactly like her old cat and she had named him after him. There was no point in trying to get the stupid animal back so I signed over the papers to her. What was I supposed to do? Some old woman almost in tears on my doorstep and going on about her 'Barney'?

Oops hijacking alert but I feel for you.

blithedance · 25/03/2009 21:06

That's awful Sorrento. Did they know he was your cat and a breeding tom?

My nan was a cat breeder and kept her stud tom in a chalet/run in the garden 100% of the time.

On the other hand, how did someone know that the OP's cat was not a stray? If it wasn't microchipped or collared then what are people meant to do? Ask the cat?

In most people's minds an unneutered stray tom is a nuisance and it's very subjective trying to judge how "well fed" an animal is.

Juwesm · 25/03/2009 21:10

A little bit about cats and the law here. Apparently they are considered the owner's property, but unless it's a pedigree cat like Sorrento's (which I assume comes with much documentation), or unless chipped, imagine cat ownership could be tricky to prove!

Original poster
powpow · 25/03/2009 21:10

wannabe - They had to operate on his stomach because he had an undescended testicle. That is why the charge is so high.

Yes, he must have pre-arranged the visit. He obviously didn't know who our cat belonged to and had been feeding him for a few months according to him.

tracybath - I called 11 different vets and finally found the one that performed the op.
They contacted him and then gave him my #.
He had the anti-biotics that my cat needed so had to bring them over.
My cat does not want to leave the house and needs the drugs.

Sorrento - that sounds like what happened to us, although I never would have thought my cat was living elsewhere since he's always here! Your neighbor should have asked you first!

Thanks for everyone's input and advice. We are both stunned and annoyed that this guy did this.
We know we could have done a better job IDing our cat, but you don't think something like this will happen!

OP posts:
bumpybecky · 25/03/2009 21:21

I would be furious! and YANBU in refusing to pay. I think I'd be writing a very strongly worded letter to the neighbour and the vets.

If it helps at all one of our cats had an undescended testicle. He was a rescue cat and the rescue people said it was apparently down, then the day he was due to be chopped it popped back up! then a few weeks later it had got over it's shyness, came down and then again on chop day it went back up! We left it 6 months then got him done. We just didn't speak about the appointment when the cat was listening......

He's now 13 and in very good health

Jux · 25/03/2009 21:23

This makes me furious. People know if cats are looked after and know they shouldn't feed them. We had one cat stolen from us (in the days before microchips) by some old bag who called him in and gave him fresh fish. She then had the cheek to come round and demand payment because 'she couldn't afford it'. She wouldn't stop calling him in and feeding him though, and eventually we had to just let her have him.

If he asks you for recompense I would threaten him with court action for mutilating your cat!

Washersaurus · 25/03/2009 21:43

I think you were in the wrong for not chipping and neutering your cat, but no way should that man have taken him to the vets for an op!

I have lost 2 cats over the years to other people. Now if my cat doesn't come back for her tea I leaflet the entire neighbourhood with her pic and details

BananaFruitBat · 25/03/2009 21:47

Don't pay. My boy cat had an undescended testicle (we've always taken the piss out of him over this) and he still only cost £33.

LEMAGAIN · 25/03/2009 21:56

£280 for an undescended testicle op at a vets is excessive, im an ex vet nurse and can't imagine this costing more than £150. It is irresponsible to allow an un-neutered male cat to roam around as female cats can become pregnant before they are mature enough to be speyed. That is neither here nor there, its YOUR cat!! But look on the bright side - you don't now have to pay for the op. Definately need undescended testicles sorting though can cause all manner of problems.

I would be ringing the vets and enquiring why the cat has been sent home on anti-biotics. Even with the undescended ball op, a long acting injection should have covered.

Cats are notorious for getting food and lodgings everywhere, if the guy took it upon himself to take the cat to the vets thats his look out. If he told the vets it wasn't his cat, then the vets have broken the law. But i suspect he told them the cat was his.

LEMAGAIN · 25/03/2009 21:59

Jux, the cat wasn't mutilated FFS!! it was neutered and an undescended testicle removed. The rights and wrongs of who did what is quite another matter but mutilated the cat?? ROTFL

pointydog · 25/03/2009 22:04

offer him something at least. £50?

You should get a collar for your cat or get it chipped

Hangingbellyofbabylon · 25/03/2009 22:05

I feel sorry for you that this happened without your knowledge but seriously - not micro-chipped? no collar? how is anyone meant to know that he's your cat? How old is the cat? we had all of ours microchipped at 8 weeks and neutered at the earlist possible (4-5 months) - no excuse not to really.

Sorrento · 25/03/2009 22:09

I agree it's appalling we drove to south wales to buy our Austin, £250 and he was stunning, no way could he be mistake a stray he was up to date with his vacinations and in good health as people have said they are lured away when they feed and allow your cat into the house.
Unfortunately it's a parent at the school and we have 4 other cats so I would look a right cow demanding their DC's "pet" back.