Someone else is feeding my cat

[UnaLength]

How do I stop this? Cat is approaching 15 but fit and otherwise healthy. He's always been a bit of a roamer and likes to go out several times a day.

We moved here 2 years ago and last summer, he came home with a paper ring on his neck asking to call a number as they thought he was a stray. I did and it was a woman who lives in the edge of our estate but not on it.

She said he'd been visiting her and eating the food she left out for the foxes. I asked her not to let him in her garden and shoo him away if she saw him. I think this is still happening as he's on Iams biscuits for older cats but the times he does use the litter tray, his poos are terribly loose and smell dreadful.

I don't have this lady's number anymore but I'm pretty sure that he's going there still as he always trots off in the direction of the house, even though I don't know 100% for certain where it is.

How can I stop this?

I had a tag engraved saying “allergies. Do NOT feed” when some idiot kept giving my cat a saucer of milk leading to blood filled poos, would that be worth a go? Or do that on a paper collar maybe?
You could fit a tracker collar so you know where he’s going so you can visit in person.

To be fair, she's entitled to leave food out for the foxes in her own garden. She's put a paper collar on as she was concerned about his welfare and now you've told her he's not a stray. Unless she keeps watch the whole time out of her back window, ready to shoo your cat away, what is she supposed to do?

If she’s leaving food out for foxes and your cats eating it then there’s not much you can do. She does sound like a responsible person, trying to track down a potential owner rather than just taking in what she thought was a stray cat. It’s on you rather than her to try and keep your cat from wandering and eating things it shouldn’t.

Ooh thats a hard one. He is going to her garden she isnt necessarily inviting him. Its not her responsibility to shoo your cat. She won't always be watching her garden. If leaving food out for the foxes is what she has done for years should she have to change to suit your cat. She isnt feeding him she is feeding the foxes and he is taking it. You could explain to her the effec the food has on the cat and ask her to put the fox food out when it dark and then keep the cat in when it's dark. Foxes are nocturnal so that should be win win. Write a note a put it through her door.

Other than keeping your cat in I don't know how you'd stop it. She's entitled to put food out in her own garden really.

She isn't really feeding your cat, she's leaving food out for foxes. She's entitled to do that in her own garden. I think all you could do would be to keep your cat indoors?

Entitled to, maybe, but not wise. I don’t understand why people encourage foxes into their gardens.

They’re not domesticated animals and we shouldn’t be encouraging them into domestic settings. They’re also not endangered, by any stretch, and over feeding results in population booms, something which will come back to (literally) bite us and will upset the local ecosystem.

If that’s not enough, they’re loud, their shit absolutely reeks and they can do a lot of damage to your garden.

The only solution is to take responsibility for your own cat and either keep it in or cat proof your garden. It isn't the neighbours problem.

In the winter, my cat started only coming home once every couple of days, eating, and then going straight out again. I was pretty sure he was living and being fed somewhere else. I bought a few collars saying DO NOT FEED on them (as he kept losing them.) He started coming home daily for food so I think that worked up to a point. Eventually I invested in a Pawtrack tracking collar so I could see where he was going. The tracking isn't that accurate so I know roughly where he's going but not whether he's being let in anyone's house or not. I put up posters all round the area he was visiting asking for people not to let him into their house or feed him.

If she was actively encouraging your cat to enter her house to feed it, you may have a point. But you can't really stop her feeding the foxes. It's one of the risks of you letting your cat out

Keep your cat in, in house or in the garden. He is your responsibility.

@ZooKeeper19

Keep your cat in, in house or in the garden. He is your responsibility.

How cruel! The cats 15! It's been used to going out its whole life

Do you think he'll stay in? I can't see how you'll be able to stop him.