My family has been adopted by a cat

[AnyFucker]

It seems to be in perfect health, well fed, lovely soft fluffy clean fur, no fleas etc

It spends all day at our house, waiting on the garage roof when we go out

We don't feed it anything, so it obviously has a primary home

it is sat by me now, totally chilled and relaxed, follows us around wherever we go

I feel we are getting all the plus points opf having a moggy without any of the down sides (it shits somewhere else and we don't even have to pay for it's scran ...)

So no, definitely no cats here
Going to start writing a sign on the window "this is not a cat rescue. There are definitely not dreamies here, and no the human will not let you sleep in the bed"

Edith is a lovely name for a cat

she is Phoebe already

erk

Could you take it to the vet to get it scanned for a chip? My cat went missing months ago despite being chipped and registered.
Apparently vets won't scan unless requested to do so, so cats don't always get returned if they are adopted by a well meaning person.

eurochick Perhaps the neighbours could pop it in to a vets to be scanned if you can't? And I see you're in London. If you're in East London you can drop me a pm and I can pop over with my scanner. It sounds as though it may be a young stray (youth gives them a glossy coat even if they're not well fed very often) and it could of course be an unneutered female. If you, or your neighbour, could take it to one of our clinics in South or East London www.celiahammond.org we can check it is neutered and neuter for free if not. If you really can't manage it please look out for any signs of an increasing belly and pm me if you are at all concerned. We can arrange for someone (or indeed me) to come and pick it up if it is pregnant.

do vets scan for chips for free ?

Ah Hah! Phoebe indeed.

They almost always do it for free, AF. (I'm only saying 'almost' in case there's the odd one who doesn't - none of the vets I've ever known would have charged.)

ok, I am workign tomorrow and away for the weekend but I suspect Phoebe this cat will still be hanging around next week so I shall investigate further if so

My sister took in a stray a couple of months ago who promptly had 4 kittens. They were really hard work once they started moving and sis was demented with them, plus she had to get rid of them (she ended up keeping one).

She sounds like she may be lost. They can get lost surprisingly easily. She may only life a few hundred yards away. My cat was lost when she was spooked by something and ran too far and couldn't find her way home. She was only in the next street. Lots of cats don't wear collars these days. Mine hasn't had one since the '90s.

Well done.

We were adopted by a cat. Turned out neighbour was away all the time and then bought a new puppy. So, umm, we now (will all parties in agreement) officially have an cantankerous elderly moggy.

I say now, he's been here for a while...

By the way - if the vet scans her, finds a chip and confirms that she's actually from Huddersfield or somewhere, they may have to keep her at the practice for a day or two until the putative owner can be contacted. I can't remember the exact rules though - maybe someone else does - it's just a note of caution to save any possible awkwardness at the practice.

AF - what a beautiful story! Darling Phoebe will be the centre of your family in no time.

I think it's karma for all the great work you do on the Relationships board. She has come to act as your personal adviser and PA throughout this great task.

Cats really aren't that expensive, luckily. The only thing that costs much is vet fees and if you are skint the Blue Cross will treat her free if she ever needs it. Cheaper than men, anyway.

What a nice thing to say, Cory

I am working today and it is raining. I assume she is at her primary residence or sheltering somewhere until we get home.

It's when you get home and you right away start looking for that wee face to pop up somewhere that you know you have a new family member.

We'll see.

Um.....but this could be someone's well loved pet. I live in fear of my cat deciding he prefers to live somewhere else or being enticed in. Definitely check for a chip and use the collar idea before getting too attached. I know people think they are doing strays a favour by feeding them but you might inadvertently be pinching someone's cat.

Sorry to be a misery but my cat is out most of the day and often hangs about our neighbours windows just peering in. Doesn't mean he is neglected, starving or abandoned.

There are loads of cats in shelters who genuinely need a home if you decide you like having it around.

That's quite true, *Mostly, which is why we recommended a collar and microchip tracing (if she has one.) There's something about the cat's behaviour which doesn't sit well with me, though. I've had cats who ranged and were Six Dinner Sids but they didn't stay at other people's houses continuously until 11 at night. (And AF isn't feeding her bar the odd snackette of sandwich innards.)

We're having the same thing dr the moment. We have a lovely looking fluffy ginger ex-Tom hanging round a lot. We don't feed him, but we have three cats already do there is usually good available.

We've taken him to the vet - no chip, no collar, no reports of lost cats at either of the vets locally - we've left our number but no calls. Should we start feeding George?

As pp have said it could be lost. This happened to us, we have a newish rescue cat. We were away for a couple of nights with the neighbour feeding him but he freaked out on his own and followed some blokes home from the pub one night. Once at their house he couldn't find his way back again and he ended up living in their garden for a few days.

We got him back via leaflets through a few doors and a fb appeal and have now booked a cattery for our next holiday!

There could be a family missing a cat in a neighbouring street.

And if your cat were lost would you prefer people to ignore it and leave it hungry, or to feed and and check for a chip? I know which I'd prefer.

If it's not chipped and it's lost then the owners will be putting up posters no doubt.

I'm with Cozie - this doesn't sound like a six dinner Sid to me either. This sounds much more like a lost/stray/abandoned cat.

Catty is here. Wringing wet through from the rain. We haven't fed it more than a nibble of sandwich meat for over a week, surely she is being regularly fed at the Primary Residence ? Although she is a fluffy type so can't really tell if she is thin or not. The fur is clean and glossy though. Healthy eyes and ears. This cat looks well looked after. I don't want to steal someone's cat.

Of course not - but she sounds lost to me. How did she react when you got home?

(They can look in reasonable condition at this time of year for quite some time if living rough but reasonably young. The Lodger, indeed, was making quite a good living food-wise from the local restaurant bins and unwary small mammals. He looked in fine fettle - but still wanted a home to come back to.)

Maybe start the asking around tonight if you have time? (And check the relevant websites.)

If it's pelting down with you, I'd let her stay in tonight unless she asks to go.