How to stop people thinking my cat is lost when he's not?

[ClareWilsonNS]

I have recently adopted a lovely rescue cat (neutered, male) who's friendly, curious and a real wanderer - also he won't keep a collar on. Twice now I've had to collect him because someone thinks he is lost and needs their help. On one occasion someone had driven him to their vet 5 miles away. (Although my cat had only strayed about half a mile from my house.) He is microchipped so the vet called me up. How can I stop this from happening? On both occasions the rescuer had said he "seemed lost".

I dont know, but people seem to do this a lot now. My village facebook group is constantly full of people saying a cat has been sat near their house for half an hour so they've taken it to the vets as a stray 🤔

OP- this is my experience from the other side.

2yrs ago I moved to a new property. I set up a hedgehog feeding station with a night camera. 1 cat in particular would squeeze through all tunnels/pipes etc I set to get to the food- no other cat could do it. My neighbour who has cats also found the same cat getting into her porch to eat her own cats food plus another neighbour along the road. My experienced neighbour thought it was a stray by how hungry it was and the determination to get food- even squeezing into my hedgehog feeder.

I took photos of the cat, put up signs in the street to ask if anyone knew who owned it. Months later, my neighour took the cat to the vet and we finally found out the cat was indeed owned by someone at the end of our street.

Could you keep trying with the collar? Can cats wear a harness that would come off it caught in a tree? Could you contain in your own garden rather than letting him wander?

I've never owned a cat, but if an animal wanders about outside your own garden, then I'm not surprised people think its stray and take it to the vet. Hopefully someone with more experience can help you.

Agree with PP people seem to do it a lot, too much.
The likelihood is most of the time if a cat looks well groomed and looked after etc the cat is fine and just having a wander.
People are too quick to jump to the 'lost' and 'stray' conclusion.
Apart from trying a collar again not sure what you can do really

Unfortunately I think social media has a lot to answer for on this one. People love to "rescue" animals and post it on local Facebook pages for their 15 minutes of fame.

My parents live rural lots of public footpaths crossing farmers fields. We had to tell some visiting do gooders who posted a self congratulatory photo that they hadn't rescued a chicken they had intact stolen a chicken and please put it back where they found it!

I would try to persevere with different types of collars to see if you can find one he keeps on. i would also post his photo on as many local Facebook pages to say if people see him he isnt lost and to just leave him alone.

This is so dumb.

No, you can’t make a cat keep its collar on if the cat has decided to be a collar-free cat. It is as impossible as teaching a dog to fly.

The only excuse for taking a cat you don’t own to a vet is if the cat is obviously very ill/malnourished. And before doing so you should at least knock on the doors of the street.

Cats wander, some for miles. Cats explore. It is who they are.

Some people are so dumb.

Yes it is very clear you have never owned a cat.

Thank you for the helpful suggestions. It would be impossible to confine him to the garden. Posting his picture on local facebook groups is a brilliant idea.

Cat necklace identity collar and a micro chip. Would be beneficial in that regard..

Join the local lost and found cat groups on Facebook then when they post pics of your cat you can assure them he isnt lost

My neighbour's cat was constantly featuring on our town Facebook group because she was very old, thin and liked sleeping on a particularly sunny bench.
In the end the neighbour printed off a big poster and put it in his window: "This is my cat. Please don't assume she is a stray and needs your help: she has a loving home here, food on demand and regular vet attention. She is thin and scruffy because she's old and has managed health conditions. She likes to sleep in the sunshine and get gentle strokes from passers by." etc etc
It did work.

@Raineth I made it clear it was my neighbour- who has owned cats for years, that took the skinny cat the vet- NOT me! I was concerned that of all the cats that visit my garden, this was the only one which would contort itself into any tiny space to get food from my hedgehog feeder.

I also made it very clear I have never owned cats, so was asking whether there were other options to have a collar or safety harness on a cat!

Gees- I was only showing another side the scenario and asking if there were other options!!!

Some years ago I had a cat who survived to the grand old age of 23. He was scraggy as anything but ate like a Trojan and would walk a fair distance. He was also very friendly particularly to anyone with food. He got kidnapped repeatedly, taken to vets, reported to the RSPCA (who came to inspect him) and, on one occasion, taken away and driven 50 minutes across town. I put my phone number on his collar and would get up to six calls a day from people who had found my stray cat. I would usually go to the door and wave at them, six yards away. In some ways it was reassuring to know that there were so many feline well-wishers but saving that DCat from kidnappers was nearly a full time job for my neighbours and I.

Wow I'm glad they brought him back each time

I know for the most part people's hearts are in the right place. I was driving along a road once when I saw a very ill looking cat staggering along the middle of the road. I stopped and some walkers thought it had been hit by a car. I picked it up and drove it to the nearest animal hospital, whereapon it emptied its bowels on me when I arrived (had to throw the coat away and get my car professionally cleaned but all worth it to save a life). When I rang the vet the next day for a progress update it transpired that I had in fact abducted it from outside its own house, and that it was under regular treatment from them for multiple serious health issues. But I still say that I'd rather make the mistake that way around than to have left an animal needing urgent treatment. Obviously I wouldn't have done that if it had looked healthy!

@CC4712 thank you for this insight, I was surprised at the unpleasant response you got which seemed very disproportionate to me

You could also ask your local Cats Protection to put a post on facebook with a picture and a note saying that if he is found around whatever area that he is not lost - just wandering.

I have seen this on my local CP and I imagine the type of people who contact vets might also follow CP pages.