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Original poster

Irritating neighbour feeding and taking our cat in

42 replies

Batistuta · 06/04/2018 21:23

Just wondered if any cat owners have come across the strange behaviour of a neighbour practically trying to steal your cat. We have a young couple who live near us and they’ve started taking in our cat, well kitten as she’s just under a year old, and according to another neighbour who we know who lives opposite them they keep her in for long periods and have even left her locked in their house whilst they go out! I’m finding it very irritating and a little bit weird as nobody would do this if it was a dog. I’ve been round and had words but they’re choosing to ignore as she still goes missing for long periods and is no longer interested in the food we give her. I know this is all pathetic to some degree as there’s far worse things going on in the world but she’s part of our family now and even my little boy is starting to miss her.

OP posts:

Japanesejazz · 06/04/2018 22:56

Yep as I said.

GardenGeek · 06/04/2018 22:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MollyDaydream · 06/04/2018 22:58

As you said what?

CuppaTeaAndAJammieDodger · 06/04/2018 22:58

I got DCat an id tag which said “special diet - do not feed”, it worked.

GardenGeek · 06/04/2018 23:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Japanesejazz · 06/04/2018 23:03

You can’t legally own a cat but you can be held legally responsible for its welfare

endoflevelbaddy · 06/04/2018 23:03

We had exactly this situation with our tom cat when we moved house years ago. We kept seeing him peering out of a neighbours window. When we added a tel no & 'please do not feed his cat' msg to his tag we got the neighbour and their child coming round to complain because they'd grown very attached to him (not interested in how upset our DD was about her stolen cat!)

Gave up fighting them on it eventually and after a few years stopped insuring him as he came round less and less. He got very sick in the end (6 years on) and (allegedly) nearly bankrupted them - CFs we're dropping hints via mutual friends how expensive it was getting and we may need to help them!!!

I'm a big believer in karma. Hopefully they'll think twice about steeling a family's beloved pet in future

VianneRocher · 06/04/2018 23:05

Japanesejazz go back and read from the image I posted.

You're wronger than a wrong thing.

ObiJuanKenobi · 06/04/2018 23:05

The article clearly says 'the law regards cats as property' so yes, you can legally own a cat 🐈

RavenLG · 06/04/2018 23:07

Cats choose. I’d be really upset if my cat (nonexistent) cat did this but in mine and DPs first house together we had a overly ginger Tom who would jump through any open window and make himself at home until we removed him from the house (and closed the windows as he would just jump back in). He even learned how to open our fridge. I was convinced he was past tenants cst they had left (turned out he was owned by a house a few doors up). I was most upset when we moved out and had to leave him behind. He even tried to get in DPs car when we were loading up the final bits and was even the last one out the house when we closed the door. I miss that cat.

tracymars · 06/04/2018 23:11

I made friend with a cat at my old flat. He spent all day in my garden in the summer. I took it to the vets to have it scanned for a chip. Because it was the end of summer and I worried that he was a lost cat. He lived in the next street. I left him there to be collected by the owner. I thought I'd never see the cat again. The usually overly affectionate cat wouldn't even look at me whilst we were at the vet.
He turned up in my garden later the same day with a collar on with his owners number. I texted her to say he was back but I liked his company, so was happy with that. I wouldn't feed him. I gave her my address in case she was looking for him any time.

This was a couple of months before I moved out. For that time I enjoyed his company. He made my garden his territory. He used to shout at me through the window in the evening until I let him in. He would sleep with me and leave early in the morning to go home to get fed. About 4 years ago now and I still sometimes miss him.
His owner told me he was always disappearing for lengths of time and she was used to it.

Japanesejazz · 06/04/2018 23:24

Practice law for 30 years. Deal with a few thousand divorce cases over who owns the cat. The neighbours haven’t stolen the cat. The theft act does not apply in this case

VianneRocher · 06/04/2018 23:26

Imagine practicing law that long and getting it so wrong

MollyDaydream · 06/04/2018 23:26

Of course you do.

Moominfan · 06/04/2018 23:28

An old lady poached our cat as a child. I was really sad about it but they got loads of attention with her. We already had another cat and a dog. I was one of 4 so they must have preferred the quieter life

ObiJuanKenobi · 06/04/2018 23:32

A divorce where two actual joint owners of a pet can't decide who gets to keep a pet isn't the same as a non-owner trying to coax a cat away from its legal owner/s I've been practicing law for 31 years

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 08/04/2018 14:29

My first cat (a huge grey Tomcat) adopted me. He turned up the first day I moved into a new flat. Didn't feed him (other than the odd treat) but he would spend hours every day with us. Then after a few months he disappeared for a few days then turned up injured. We took him to the vet who after treatment told us we'd need to keep him in for a week. 'But he's not our cat' we replied. The vet laughed and said 'he is now - you've got the vet's bill.

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