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The litter tray

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Original poster

Look what the wind blew in ml!

131 replies

TheLongRider · 27/10/2018 12:30

Myself and DD were cycling to school yesterday morning. About 500m from our house DD spotted a cat trying to cross the very busy road near the park. I called the cat and it mewed and it's tail shot up in the air. We stopped the bikes and I managed to grab the cat and get it and DD to safety.

The cat wasn't injured and purred when I picked it up. I had to make an instant decision, take DD to school and hope the cat would be ok, or bring the cat home and check it properly. The decision was made for me by DD bursting in to tears declaring we couldn't leave the cat.

With the cat in one hand, bicycle in the other, myself and DD trudged home. The cat was pretty good. I had to put it down to get the gate open and it meowed and followed us home.

Once home I had a proper look at it. It sniffed around, registering that there are three other cats living in the house, they were out at the time. My DH brought our now chirpy DD to school with a tale to tell.

We brought the cat to our vet. It was easy to catch and put in the cat box and apart from some unparliamentary language there was no trouble.

The vet gave the cat a good going over and ascertained that he's an un-neutered 7 month old boy. Apart from some matted fur, he's in great condition. He's booked in for the snip on Thursday.

At the moment he's at home. He's a real purr monster, very people friendly and confident. He's used the litter tray and scoffed plates of food. He's growling at the other cats who are put out but tolerant.

This is Leaf!

Look what the wind blew in ml!
OP posts:
viccat · 03/11/2018 14:34

Most of the people commenting on this post clearly are not aware that the UK alone has approx 9 MILLION stray cats. A lot of them were once pets that have been abandoned or wandered and got lost. Unless previous owners make the effort to find their lost cat, it's almost impossible to reunite an unchipped cat.

Dollymixture22 · 03/11/2018 14:38

This thread has terrified me, my kitten is neutered and chipped, but someone could just pick her up of the street and take her home.

I had been going to let her out a bit on her own during the day once she was about nine months - I might delay that!

margotsdevil · 03/11/2018 15:15

@viccat I agree about it being hard to reunite a stray with an owner - but you at least try! The very first post of the OP makes NO suggestion that she has any intention of even trying but instead seems very happy to have added to her household. I feel sorry for the family who are quite possibly heartbroken.

And I say that as someone who adopted a stray who was (in the words of the vet) near death through starvation, dehydration and war wounds. I tried incredibly hard to find the owner (leaflets, posters, social media, rspca, local cat rescues etc) but no-one came forward and she is now happy and settled with me. I didn't even name her for a couple of weeks though as I felt I shouldn't...

MrsChollySawcutt · 03/11/2018 15:20

Have you seen the pictures of this well-fed and clearly socialised kitten? This was absolutely not a stray.

OP has stolen this cat off the street and then posted about it expecting to be patted on the back. I can't believe her utter cheek.

InProgress · 03/11/2018 15:28

You need to post his picture on the local lost and found Facebook groups not just keep an eye out for posts. Fgs

Given that the vet estimated the cat to be around 7 months old there is a good chance that the cat is actually too young to be chipped/neutered when you decided to take him home.

iggleypiggly · 03/11/2018 15:28

This happened to us with our much loved cat, it took me pounding the streets and someone mentioning a lady at their local sports club had found a ‘stray’ this was before microchips but she was neutered. The CF took her to her home 10 miles away... took me over a week to track her down and the CF tried everything to not let me get her back. You can’t just take a friendly non stray from the street.

Beaverhausen · 03/11/2018 15:52

No she has not stolen someones cat, if a 7 month old cat was owned he would be neutered and not matted. Welcome Leaf! Hope he brings you many purrs. :) xx

weelis02 · 03/11/2018 15:53

Not every owner neuters their cat...silly thing to say ^
Puts me off letting my cat out now

MrsChollySawcutt · 03/11/2018 15:56

A roughly 6/7 month old kitten that hasn't been neutered yet could very easily have nipped out of his home for a wander about.

No evidence of a matted coat on display yet cat is clearly well fed and very used to being handled and petted.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 03/11/2018 16:00

To those saying vets won't neuter until 6 months up, the PDSA, Blue Cross and Cats Protection recommend cats are done at 4 months otherwise there is a risk of a litter of kittens.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 03/11/2018 16:04

BTW, I'm not defending the OPs cat napping, just pointing out that cats can be neutered by this age and the owner is irresponsible. So many unneutered male cats are killed in road accidents.

iggleypiggly · 03/11/2018 16:16

It could have jumped out of a window, escaped, a number of things, a stray 7 month old does not look like how OP is presenting. Why isn’t she putting posters on lampposts? In shops? She just took a fancy to him and stole him.

weelis02 · 03/11/2018 18:03

Vets neuter going by weight, not by age. My kitten is over 4 months but too small to get neutered yet, pdsa vet told me that 2 days ago

TheWiseWomansFear · 03/11/2018 18:06

Myself and DD?

DD and I.

Dollymixture22 · 03/11/2018 18:09

My vet refused to neuter until my kitten was six months old. She could have easily escaped before then. She was microchipped when jphavimg the operation

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 03/11/2018 19:29

I understand that weelis02 but it it possible to neuter before 6 months and if the cat is the right weight then there’s no excuse. The cat in the picture definitely looks big enough!

That’s a really helpful post TheWiseWomansFear Confused

weelis02 · 03/11/2018 19:42

That's fair enough. Like there's no excuse to pick somebody else's cat off the street that's clearly not a stray. The poor thing was probably heading home

YeOldeTrout · 03/11/2018 19:48

Is he neutered, yet?
I feel strongly about un-neutered cats so am finding the rest fairly tolerable, tbh.

OliviaStabler · 04/11/2018 08:10

The not neutering before 6 months is a new one on me. Both my cats came to me at 4 months and were neutered. The rescue centre neutered Livcat.

silkpyjamasallday · 04/11/2018 08:39

Not microchipping a pet that roams is beyond stupid, and doesn't suggest a lot of care for the animal. We have friends who are if I'm honest pretty neglectful pet owners and they just haven't bothered having their similar age kitten neutered/microchipped/vaccinated, and let it roam all over, imo there is no excuse having the chip put in takes seconds.

I've taken in a lost baby rabbit before, clearly a pet who had been 'set free' in the park. We leafletted/put posters up all over, contacted all local vets and police, checked lost pages on social media. Turns out he had belonged to our neighbours down the road, he was bought as an Easter present for preschool age children and as he wasn't keen on being held they just got rid of him. It's pretty common.

The OP has made efforts to find this cats owners, and if they come forward I'm sure she will give him back. She hasn't stolen a cat, she is making sure it doesn't become roadkill before its hapless owners bother to look for him. If they haven't bothered putting up posters, contacting vets/police after a week then they don't deserve to get the cat back, clearly not a beloved pet.

eggstoast · 04/11/2018 09:11

Totally agree with silky for every family that might be fretting over a lost cat, there’s at least one other that couldn’t care less and are quite happy to dump a pet once it’s served it purpose.
The op has done a good thing in taking the cat in out of harms way, if a young cat of mine was in a similar predicament I would appreciate someone doing the same for me. As long as the op continues to make efforts to find a possible owner then all is good.

Screaminginsidemeagain · 04/11/2018 09:39

Catnapper.

We had a stray follow my cat home. Cat was pathetic, starving, dirty, has wounds o. It’s tail but we couldn’t catch her for months. I put found cat posters everywhere and had lots of people call and ask or come and see her hiding in our bushes. Lots of people loose cats and wouldn’t do posters. Or they get wet and taken down.
The cat was trying to cross a road. It didn’t warrant stealing it because your DD wanted it.

sashh · 04/11/2018 09:40

No evidence of a matted coat on display yet cat is clearly well fed and very used to being handled and petted.

And the cat now needs daily grooming, which means he must have been groomed recently.

As for the age of cats for 'the snip' vet's do vary, there is one in Wales that will do the op from 2 weeks but most still say 6 months. I used to foster for CP and they advocate early neitering but are realistic that not all vets are willing to do it.

LEMtheoriginal · 04/11/2018 09:46

I am a vet nurse - i understand it is difficult.

However we would have taken the cat in and endeavoured to find owner. If after 1 week no owner had come forward we would sign the cat over to you.

We get many strays brought in and otherwise healthy cats we'd rather not receive as its a catnapping can of worms.

Saying that an entire adult male is less likely to have a home. At least not one that doesmt stink to high heaven!

Greenkit · 04/11/2018 09:48

I am shocked you have stolen this cat

Its not yours, you should put it back.

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