So my cat has moved in with someone else!

[AttackCat]

Or rather more than one someone.

So I have posted a couple of times about our cat going AWOL and I was initially fairly certain she wasn’t living elsewhere, but it turns out I was wrong!

It seems she is dividing her time between 2-3 other houses.

I’m not sure now what to do. I don’t know exactly which houses she’s spending time at but I can do some house-to-house enquiries.

Do I just ask them to stop letting her in? Will we be able to tempt her to come back home? Or do you have to accept that cats will do as they please?

I didn't see your other threads so apologies if repeating, but is there something going on/changed at your house to make her go elsewhere?

Our cat is like this. She has at least two other “homes” with neighbours.

I don’t mind as long as we still see enough or her. In the past when it’s got to the point where we barely saw her, I have put a collar on with a note saying “please send me home, I am much missed”. It did seem to work.

On the plus side, her having other homes means I feel less guilty/worried when we go away or if I’m at work all day. And I think it means she’s less likely to wander far or try to cross roads.

Do you know which households the cat is visiting? I would suggest you contacting them to ask them not to feed the cat, or to not encourage the cat too much.

Unfortunately, this is just what cats do sometimes I think! They don't really have a sense of loyalty. There is a young cat who visits my parents house (via the open-access cat flap), just to snooze and to play with their own aging cat. It doesn't eat the family pet's food, and doesn't ask for any either, so it seems like it does just visit for a change of scene / company.

Funnily enough the second I posted this thread, having literally not seen her for a week, she strolls in! But she is much more distant with me since she started going AWOL she largely ignores me even when she does show her face!

Nothing has changed at home, other then I think she was triggered to look further afield when we went on holiday and she missed having people in the house all day.

I think we will have to track down her other “homes” and ask them to rein it in as we go days and days without seeing her now.

That’s why I put my cats in a cattery when on hols. I would keep her indoors for a couple of weeks and play and interact with her just like when you move house. She has got into a routine. Getting neighbours not to feed her is also a good idea. In the summer you can’t expect your neighbours not to have open windows and doors.

That’s why I put my cats in a cattery when on hols. I would keep her indoors for a couple of weeks and play and interact with her just like when you move house.

My cat would hate either of these!! I’d rather let her roam even if it means sharing her tbh.