WWYD - neighbour's cat visiting a lot

[OhBling]

Our next door neighbours' cat has taken to coming round to visit. He normally just pops in and wanders around for about 10 minutes and the leaves and we're okay with that. And we assume so are the neighbours as he's always hanging around outside between our front doors so they must know.

But he's really old and very thin and he's been trying to convince us to feed him for weeks which we've not done, obviously.

But he's so thin and seems so hungry - I gave him a tidbit from the tuna I was making for DH and I the other day and he jumped on it like he hadn't eaten in months.

The neighbours also have another, younger, cat so I'm wondering if he's eating the old cat's food and that's why he seems so hungry.

Should we give him the odd snack? Or talk to our neighbours? Or just keep our noses well out of it?

That's a tricky one.

We have 2 tom cats that belong to us. They are both in lovely condition, so I was baffled (and a bit miffed) when I noticed that my next door neighbour's daughter (in her late 40s) was feeding them. I had to ask her to stop, as they kept throwing her pouch food back up. They weren't used to it at all. Now they're only having dry food, they're fine.

It is really hard not to feed a 'starving' cat, but once you do, they keep coming back.

If you have a good relationship with your neighbours, perhaps you could suggest that their cats are separated at mealtime. That way, both get a fair chance at eating. It may also be that the older cat needs de-worming.

If your neighbours wouldn't respond well to your advice, just keep an eye on the old moggy to make sure his condition doesn't get any worse.

I would try talking to your neighbour, it could be that the cat is on some kind of special diet and can't eat normal cat food. My neighbours used to feed one of my cats that did quite a good impression of being very hungry (apparently he used to get dinner at quite a few houses) and he got fat so we had to put him on a diet which I was quite annoyed about.

I wouldn't feed simply because you don't know the circumstances
my very old cat got very thin but was ill the only way I could get her to take her drugs was to put them in her food, she didn't like it but would usually eat it at some point in the day
then my 'kindly' neighbour started feeding her without my knowledge she stopped eating at home and I couldn't get her drugs into her I asked the neighbour to stop feeding when I found out it was her she didn't becuse she thought she knew better than I did and my cat collapsed and died

Thanks everyone. I tend to agree, feeding is bad and I'm not keen to do it. Especially as I truly do not think our neighbours are the type to mistreat him. I suspect there's some other element - like the medication one which is a good thought, thanks Andie. DH and I will continue to resist his pitiful looks!