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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Old owners cat keeps coming back.. advice?

15 replies

hazeydays14 · 18/12/2017 08:32

I moved into my new house a week ago. The previous owners have moved to another street in the same area so they are near by.
Their cat has come ‘home’ twice this weekend. They came to collect her Saturday evening after she turned up around lunch time. I got in from drinks last night at about 11pm and she was sat outside the door, not sure how long she’d been there. I text him last night, apologising for it being late and as of yet I’ve had no reply.

My first question is, if I stop taking her in will she eventually go back to her new home? My feeling is she may get confused. Even though they aren’t far away the cat would have to travel just short of a mile but that involves crossing either a river or a busy road... it was freezing when I got home yesterday so I didn’t want to leave her out all night.

Secondly, would you be annoyed if someone was taking in your cat in the same situation? I’m just surprised they let her out again the day after/same day after she’d wandered off.
I don’t want to leave her out in the cold but maybe they don’t worry about her like I worry about my cat! (not living here) I’d be panicking about her getting lost trying to find her new home if she were mine.

Basically shall I just ignore her adorable little face staring through my window when I put her out? She’s currently very content on my sofa and hasn’t asked to go out yet.

OP posts:

laudanum · 18/12/2017 08:34

I would be powerless to resist and would be cuddled up on the sofa with her whenever she wanted. I am a total sap for animals.

PurplePillowCase · 18/12/2017 08:34

yes, ignore the cat.
poor thing is confused and needs to get used to the new places

AmIAWeed · 18/12/2017 08:42

I have 5 cats, and as an official crazy cat lady feel I can speak for my people ;)

The cat owner really needs to keep their cat in for a longer period of time so it gets used to all the smells, around 6 weeks - hard but will help BUT that being said, if my cat went back to our old house I would appreciate someone letting the cat in, keeping the cat in and letting me know to collect.
I'd only get grumpy if they fed my cat

Original poster

hazeydays14 · 18/12/2017 08:54

Definitely no feeding! Not even a sneaky bit of ham.. I don’t want to encourage her to keep coming back or confuse her even more.

OP posts:

sashh · 18/12/2017 09:03

I think the cat probably knows exactly where it lives but is on the look out for a second home.

Let it in if cold but agree so not feed. You may find it visiting on a regular basis though, particularly if you have a warmer home, fewer children or better furniture than its owners.

TheLongRider · 18/12/2017 09:18

Some cats are more tied to their territory than their humans. I'd say that the cat will keep coming back to your house.

The cat's owners should keep it in for longer but even then if the pull of territory us stronger, the cat will eventually come back to yours.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 18/12/2017 09:33

As hard as it is you need to ignore her. The new owners should be keeping her in for a few weeks as well.

Fluffycloudland77 · 21/12/2017 13:36

They really ought to keep her in for a month.

I wouldn't let her stay out all night with the U.K. Cat killer on the loose.

Maybe her new house is rubbish.

Madcatter · 21/12/2017 13:49

If it were my cat, I'd definitely prefer someone to let it in rather than leaving it out in the cold, especially if it'd have to negotiate a busy road or river to get back to the new house.

That said, if it were my cat it'd be kept indoors for at least 2 weeks to adjust (and if only moving a short distance where the cat's more likely to feel the pull of 'home', probably longer). If they've not responded to your message it sounds like they're not that concerned sadly. Poor kitty.

NotAgainYoda · 21/12/2017 15:42

I would not let it in or feed it. The owners should probably have kept it in for longer but you shouldn't do anything to encourage it.

ToadOfSadness · 21/12/2017 19:24

They should be keeping the cat in for at least 2 weeks.

However, I would let her in if they can't be bothered with her, it isn't safe these days to leave them outside. Maybe they don't want her.

TrojansAreSmegheads · 21/12/2017 19:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

stilltheykeepcoming · 21/12/2017 19:45

Poor cat. They need to keep her indoors for several weeks, otherwise she will just carry on returning. She doesn't understand that her territory is not her territory any more, and she needs to learn that she lives somewhere else now.

What will you and her owners do if she decides that she doesn't want to move elsewhere with them, thank you very much, and that she wants to live in her house with new humans?

Original poster

hazeydays14 · 23/12/2017 08:53

Well he came to collect her the evening that I posted this.. he said she’s an outdoor cat who hates being indoors —tell that to the cat who snoozed on my lap for 3 hours—
They have a dog and young boy, my cat only has to hear my cousins little boy on FaceTime and she’s off

It seems there is a cycle path which she may be using to get here which goes from the next street over directly to the estate they live in.

She hadn’t been back until last night, she tried to run in the house but I didn’t let her in. It was warm (for this time of year and I don’t have a litter tray or anything)

If she wants to live here and they don’t mind I am happy to take her in but I don’t want to cat-nap her from her family so until then I won’t be encouraging her!

OP posts:

NotAgainYoda · 23/12/2017 14:42

I think you are doing the right thing. I am biased because a cat of ours got cat-napped when I was a child - she was in no way neglected.

Also, when my old girl who was PTS last year (age 20) was younger, there was a time when she was less happy - when DCs were little. If someone had decided at that point that she'd be better of elsewhere then we would not have had the 16 extra years of happiness we had

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