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

Original poster

WIBU to take this cat to the vet??

26 replies

Charliebradbury · 01/06/2021 14:12

Bit of background. I have 2 cats, 1 male who is 10 years old and 1 female who is 7. They have both being neutered. Last year a male cat started hanging around the street but no one seemed to know where it lived.
Over the last 6 months it has become increasingly vicious. It has taken to attacking my cats and my neighbours cats everytime they leave the house. We started shutting our cats in when we were not home. But this didn't deter it in the end as it broke our cat flap trying to get in.
It has killed our hamster, broken our cat flap and injured our female cat.
I have finally managed to find the owner but they won't do anything about it. They admitted its not neutered and that they shut it out most of the time.
The final straw came when we were woken by our toddler screaming only to find this cat in his bedroom, we had left our kitchen window open and he had decided to come in at 3am.
Can I take it to a vet to at least get neutered?

OP posts:
winniesanderson · 01/06/2021 14:26

We have a similar situation but nowhere near as extreme. A cat has been attacking ours and a neighbours cat and attempting to get in to our house. We spray near it with a pump action type water pistol every time it enters our garden. I won't aim directly for it as I don't like to think of it being out at night wet and cold. It's been a few weeks since I've seen it so I think it's doing the trick. My next step was going to be to contact a cat rescue locally as I know they'll often loan traps and scan for micro chips etc. Really wish people would neuter their cats.

Original poster
Charliebradbury · 01/06/2021 14:37

We have tried with a water pistol but it just doesn't seem to care but i will try again. It's not even that wary or our dog anymore.

OP posts:
HarrietSchulenberg · 01/06/2021 14:38

Neutering might not stop the problem as it's so late. My old cat was a horrible thug to all the neighbourhood cats and could still spray, despite having been neutered as a rescue aged 7.
I'd go for deterrents instead. A week or two of constant vigilance and spraying him with a hose every single time he comes near your garden will ram the message home to him. Leave the hosepipe out so it's visible to him too. A thick sprinkling of chilli powder around his entry points is good too, although unsightly and your own cats won't be happy.

Fluffycloudland77 · 01/06/2021 21:35

I would. It won’t be chipped. Poor thing must be freezing in the winter.

ozymandiusking · 01/06/2021 21:42

Have it put to sleep.

Fluffycloudland77 · 01/06/2021 21:50

I don’t think a vet would do that straightaway to a young cat.

Original poster
Charliebradbury · 01/06/2021 22:24

I just want it neutered tbh. I feel bad for it in many ways. I have just have to chase it off again when it tried to come in through our open window, my poor old cat is on edge everytime he leaves the house.

OP posts:
Warmduscher · 01/06/2021 22:27

@ozymandiusking

Have it put to sleep.
When it’s likely that the cat just needs to be neutered? Do you know anything about cats or are you just being an arse for the sake of it?
Lonecatwithkitten · 01/06/2021 22:28

Neutering will not stop him coming in your house.
With regards to getting him neutered you are better to get a cat charity involved. I have been faced with this as a vet and my indemnity insurance advised that unless it was the owner, their authorised agent or a recognised neutering charity I should not agree to neuter the cat.

Warmduscher · 01/06/2021 22:32

We had an unneutered cat come into our garden and try to mate with our female cat.

Cats Protection lent us a scanner to check for a chip, which he didn’t have. Then they left us with a trap, which we put food into for him, and after a few days we trapped him.

He’s now been rehomed and is a very happy boy Smile

Calmestofallthechickens · 01/06/2021 22:35

A vet would need the owner’s consent to neuter the cat, and it’s not the kind of thing that’s done in an appointment - it would need to be booked in advance and requires the cat to stay in for most of the day to recover from the anaesthetic.

They might be able to get a neutering voucher from the Cats Protection or similar charity, who will often help with the costs for neutering ‘strays’ or if owners can’t afford it.

Original poster
Charliebradbury · 01/06/2021 22:35

My neighbour has spoken to cats protection and they have said as we know who the owner is then we can't take it to them to be neutered. I will keep trying to talk to the owner and chasing the cat away. I wouldn't mind if he were in anyway nice. I love cats but he is so vicious and I'm worried about him injuring my older boy. I don't understand why you would get a cat and not look after it.

OP posts:
inappropriateraspberry · 01/06/2021 22:36

I'd report it as a stray to Cats Protection. As above, they'll rehome it. If the owners are that bothered, they'll notice him missing!
We have a new cat cutting through our garden, and I watched him spray on the washing the other day! I'm keeping an eye on him to see where he's from.

StartingGrid · 01/06/2021 22:36

Theres a process called TNR - trap, neuter, return which is definitely widely used. Theres a scheme called the C4 scheme in London which means the vets get paid via a voucher issued by the RSPCA - I agree with getting a rescue's take on this if you have one operating nearby.

StartingGrid · 01/06/2021 22:39

Cross posted - in that case call the vets directly, if the cat isn't chipped I would tell them you have paper collared it and no owner come forward...

Fluffycloudland77 · 01/06/2021 22:39

I wonder if it’s in pain, I mean Tom cats are feisty but no animal goes out of its way to fight because they might get injured.

Obviously humans & honey badgers are the exception to this rule.

chaosrabbitland · 01/06/2021 22:46

@Charliebradbury

I just want it neutered tbh. I feel bad for it in many ways. I have just have to chase it off again when it tried to come in through our open window, my poor old cat is on edge everytime he leaves the house.
id be very tempted to get it neutered , owners sound like they couldnt give a shit about it anyway and i bet if it never returned back they wouldnt even miss it , , id feel sorry for it too , shut out of its home most of the time , not cared for and at the mercy of its hormones , our 2 tabby brothers we now have were like this , lived with a family up the road ,shut them out morning noon and night , the bloke that ran shop opposite was feeding them all the time as they were staving and i used to take pouches up as well , one day they followed us down the road , i opened the door they came in and that was it 8 years later they are stii with us , never left . i dont feel guilty about it either .
Thunderdonkey · 01/06/2021 22:57

The vets won't neuter it against the owners wishes. We were adopted by a feral cat last year and we had to jump through a lot of hoops to prove we'd looked for his owner and he didn't have one before the vets would neuter him. It sounds like a really difficult situation and I don't know what the answer is.

Sunbelievable · 01/06/2021 23:21

It killed your hamster? Your pet?

I'd definitely be engaging with everyone I could think of to get this cat's balls removed!

LizB62A · 01/06/2021 23:39

If he's not chipped, you can reasonably say that he's a stray.
If you're within the M25 vets will neuter strays that you have been feeding for at least 14 days for free under the C4 scheme:
www.cats.org.uk/c4/home.asp

cupsofcoffee · 02/06/2021 07:10

@Thunderdonkey

The vets won't neuter it against the owners wishes. We were adopted by a feral cat last year and we had to jump through a lot of hoops to prove we'd looked for his owner and he didn't have one before the vets would neuter him. It sounds like a really difficult situation and I don't know what the answer is.
In my experience you can just ring and say you've got a new cat and they need neutering and the vet will just book them in.

I booked my kitten in to be neutered over lockdown. I rang up, said I had a kitten who needed neutering, they booked him in for three days later.

I've done similar with an adult cat we rescued. Nobody once checked our name matched the chip details (if didn't). They just let me sign the forms and took him off for his operation.

Thunderdonkey · 02/06/2021 11:37

Yes of course OP can lie and say it's her cat. It is a risk that might be worth taking. She has said she knows the cat has an owner though and if the owner is not happy about it and wants to cause trouble could put her in a difficult position. The owner is clearly not a reasonable person as they are aware of the cat causing problems and don't seem to care.

Theworldisfullofgs · 02/06/2021 12:05

It sounds like that the cat is neglected. Could you contact the rspca?

cupsofcoffee · 02/06/2021 14:23

@Thunderdonkey

Yes of course OP can lie and say it's her cat. It is a risk that might be worth taking. She has said she knows the cat has an owner though and if the owner is not happy about it and wants to cause trouble could put her in a difficult position. The owner is clearly not a reasonable person as they are aware of the cat causing problems and don't seem to care.
Oh of course.

I'm just saying you don't need proof of ownership to get a cat seen at our vets. I've got three and they've never once had their chips checked or anything like that.

I just ring, book them in, get them seen and pay the bill Grin

RestingPandaFace · 02/06/2021 14:41

Thanks f it was me I’d contact a different rescue and get him regimes. Sounds like he is being neglected and if he’s not neutered he’ll be contributing to feral kittens.

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