Oops I may have gone too far

[Cindersdonegood]

Sorry, it may be a bit long. A family moved in to our street bringing a young cat with them. They seem to be a nice family and went on holiday for a week or so recently.

According to our neighbours though, their chosen method for caring for their pet cat while they were away was to just lock him outside. For the entire time. The neighbours had to feed him and give him shelter for the week. The family never offered to repay anything for all the food the neighbours had to buy. They didn't even think they had done anything wrong.

Now I didn't believe this was the whole story. Maybe the neighbours had got it wrong and was feeding an already fed cat, He is after all a pet indoor/outdoor cat and as such, is likely unable to feed himself properly so maybe there was a friend popping by no one noticed and was putting a bit of food out. (Not ideal but it's something.)

However, one of the kids was chatting to me today. She told me she was getting a new kitten at 6 weeks old (I know, I know!) next week. So out of curiosity I asked who their cat sitter was for their holiday. She told me cheerfully that it wasn't anybody. They put him outside.

I asked who fed him though. She looked thoughtful then said "I think the neighbours said they had fed him sometimes" to which I (possibly a bit too snippily) replied, "No, you mean the neighbours were forced to feed him because your family left your cat to starve?". The kid looked a little guilty/hurt.

Now I feel shit. I shouldn't have said anything but I can't stand the thought of animal abuse or neglect, especially knowing they are looking to get a second pet. I would have happily fed their cat, as I assume many of the neighbours would have too but no one was asked.

Anyone of you fellow cat slaves know what I should do? Should I apologise?

Not going to lie, I do sympathise and probably would have said similar but to the parents instead. I would never dream of putting any animal outside when it could be inside. However, the girl wasn't really the blame as to why the kitten and cat would be locked outside. It's the parents who really should have a changed mindset.

But you should apologise to the little girl, perhaps she's forgotten it but you could explain as to why you felt like that. Then again, I'm not a parent. Why not offer to house or regularly feed the two cats whenever they ? Not sure but it could be a good idea plus you get some feline love eventually?

Call the RSPCA. That's a dreadful thing to do to a pet. Caring for them whether you're there or away is the owner's responsibility. I wouldn't be surprised if the poor cat is thrown out completeyour if they get a kitten.

I don't think you did anything wrong by telling the child. She needs to understand it is not right to treat animals like that. It is a way of raising awareness. It is better to hear a harsh truth when you are a child than to grow up thinking that is an acceptable thing to do and to go on to have the same behaviour as an adult.
If she looked guilty/hurt it's because she realises it is a bad thing to do.

I think I am definitely going to say something to the mother but I will keep it very friendly and polite. We all talk quite often on this street so I cannot see how on Earth she never considered asking me or any of the neighbours. You can't get a few feet without stopping or being stopped by a neighbour for a chat (hence me hearing about the cat being left)
I definitely will be telling the mum that leaving a cat without food for a week is not on and will offer to feed him if he has shelter. And as proven by the fact that at least two sets of neighbours ended up pitching in to feed him, we don't mind the odd neighbourly favour here, especially when it comes to innocent animals.
I myself had my mother coming twice a day plus a whole family from next door looking after my own girl when we were away. So madame had 4 people looking out for her giving her attention and letting her in and out the house (no cat flaps)..... and probably double the feedings she normally gets, the greedy swine.

How awful.

To be honest, I very much doubt the mother will take notice anyway. Unless she doesn’t know how life works, she’ll know animals need food and shelter. People like that just don’t care either way

How sad for the cat and the new kitten.

I haven’t got much advice tbh, but I wonder if the RSPCA would be interested in knowing that they’re getting a 6 week old kitten?

Probably not @POPholditdown. I've dealt with the RSPCA before and they're very reluctant to do anything at all for cats because up to a point, cat's can, to a point, look after themselves (like Feral colonies)
They definitely won't do anything for abandoned cats if someone is feeding them, like a well intentioned neighbour who can't stand by idly.

They usually save their resources for big cases of mistreat and neglect or for appearing on Television programmes. I get it. Funds are scarce but it's still crap.

Poor cat! Don’t feel guilty, She clearly isn’t going to learn proper animal care from her awful parents!

The RSPCA might be interested, actually. One of our cats came to us via the RSPCA after she and another younger cat were left for a holiday just as you describe. I don't know what the threshold is for neglect, though.

I think the RSPCA might be interested. They came when a neighbour shut their cat out whilst away. They read the riot act to the owners.

Our local rescue rehomes cats if they aren't claimed after a week. Just saying.
An unvaccinated kitten left outside? Well I suppose at least it's not an unspayed and unvaccinated female.

The mothers obviously a total fucking bell end so don't lose any sleep over her.

The poor cat though.