Neighbour adopting (stealing?) cat - do I leave alone

[MyrtlethePurpleTurtle]

First time I've posted on this board as I don't have a cat - but here goes.

So there's a cute young cat in our area - without a collar but seemingly healthy and well cared for and friendly (shiny coat, unafraid, rubbing against your legs and curiously sauntering in and out of people's homes).

Young cat seems particularly attracted to one of my neighbours - who I've found out is buying cat food & treats & toys for the cat (she told me) which sort of explains why. I've said to her she shouldn't be doing this as this may stop cat returning to owner.

The cat doesn't have a collar and as neighbour is disabled, I offered a) to put up posters locally with cat's picture on, b) put a paper collar on with a note to contact her, c) wangle into a cat carrier and take to vet for chipping check
d) (an not on social media but suggested local Facebook).

Anyhow, she's now saying the cat is a stray or feral and was starving and so she's taking him in. Because what else was she supposed to do?

Do I just leave well alone now as I've given some advice and suggestions? The cat will be well looked after but I just feel sorry for the real owners of this delightful cat.

to me, picking up a random cat, and taking them off in your car to a vet (both of which experiences many cats find very stressful) just because you don't know who owns itis not looking after a cat's welfare at all.

Every week I see posts on Facebook where cats have been reunited (often after weeks or months) because people have "picked up random cats" and taken them off to be scanned. It's not always obvious at first glance whether a cat is happily owned by Jane down the road or whether they've strayed and are now lost.

Also not all cats are chipped...

Luckily this will be law from next June.

Legally, you can’t just “adopt” a cat off the street.

animals are property, and if it is owned it is theft.

if you want to keep a “stray” cat you must make reasonable effort to find an owner- check for chip, put up flyers, post on social media.

if no one comes forward then you can keep it if you wish.

Dumb question - but is there like a register of lost cats? Where people post about their kissing cats?

Sorry, missing cats, not a Felines Kissing Register

If they are chipped you can register them lost with the chip company. Then if a vet scans that animal they will keep the pet and ring the owner. We also have a county lost pets Facebook page run by a charity who do a very good job of trying to catch lost pets, particularly dogs.

At least from next year it'll be a legal requirement to have your cats chipped. Hopefully that will help cats get reunited a bit quicker.

This kitty might belong to a family with a young child who will be heartbroken if their kitty does not come back. If you can scoop it up into a cat carrier and take it to the vets to scan for owners details.

My cat has gone 'missing' , I have seen glimpses of him in my road, the neighbours know he is mine, but one clearly are ignoring us and feeding him. He is chipped, registered with a vet, and insured. He has issues that need checking to ensure he stays healthy. If I find out who it it I will feed them to my dog have strong words!

Oh my word my old boy is now just a garden sunbathing cat but in his prime he was a proper 'six dinner sid' presenting himself at several houses on our road plus the pub (where he was fed prime cuts of meat plus snuggles in front of the roaring real fire) and he never would wear a collar.

Cats that are friendly aren't necessarily without a loving home 😽

Report her to the police.. She is causing great pain to some families imo. Awful woman.

I would try to have the cat scanned for the owners details and alert them. Every day I see posts in local groups where people are reporting that they've "found" a cat in their garden and announcing they've taken it in until the owners make themselves known.
I don't understand how people can still be so unaware that cats wander! It doesn't mean that they don't have loving owners who would be devastated if the cat was just claimed by someone else.
Our cat is friendly, confident and sociable. He sees it as his right to wander into any open door or window nearby and investigate who lives there and whether they might give him a cuddle or some food. But he returns home to his own bed every night and is very attached to us. Luckily we live in a small cluster of houses and everyone is aware of where he lives. We would be devastated if someone just decided to claim him because he enjoyed visiting them as part of his daily rounds of the neighbourhood!

I stole my last cat in a similar situation, however it was very clear that she wasn't being looked after properly. We took her to vet and got the owner details off the chip, when we got in touch the owner basically said 'please have her, she belonged to my mum who died last year and I don't know what to do with her'
You have to check I think, someone could be breaking their heart over the loss of this cat.

This makes me so angry. I had a lovely cat, neighbour enticed her in, she had 2 cats of her own, one she kept on a lead,(he kept getting caught up on stuff in the garden) the other she pinched from the people opposite,who gave up, moved away. I used to ask have you seen my cat,shed reply "oh,yes,she's asleep on my bed". Next neighbour I had son came storming round,had I seen my cat! Get your own! My oldest DD,had a beautiful cat,mum was a British blue, bloke a few roads away feeding him,cost her £1000 in vet bills, this was 6 years ago, she thought he was being poisoned. No, just fed crap. When she moved,we took him,he had had diarrhoea,it was all baked on,he WAS long haired,a lot had been cut off. I actually have a friend,who has attempted to pinch 4 different cats, 2 owners have gone round, told her to leave their cats alone, she was furious, although she was completely in the wrong. The last one,a few months ago was elderly, she took it to a vet....then when it came to paying the bill, said oh,no,it's not MY cat,I just found it!!

Take the cat to get his chip read. If it belongs to someone else perhaps the neighbour can adopt or buy her own cat. There are so many looking for a good home.

I have 3 cats, only one wears a collar. I was advised not to put a collar on the other by the vet as qa getting abcesess fighting and it was giving the other cat something to hang on to! 3rd cat a serial collar loser. We would be devastated if someone lured our cats in with food and "rescued" them as no collars. We also have cat visitors, one with collar one without. I try to make sure they don't steal our cats food as they have homes and families who love them but sometimes they come and hang out with their cat friends which is OK but they go home. I personally would check for a chip if there is a chance its a stray but doesn't sound like it

I’d leave it be. The cat is happy and has the right to choose where they want to go. In the UK they’re considered only semi domesticated for just this reason. I am definitely very much a cat/person but I don’t see why human “ownership” trumps what the cat wants to do. Some of our cats have other people they love to visit. Fine with me.

I 'stole' a cat once. He was a very sociable and friendly, sleek but always up for a bit of a snack, intact male who was most certainly a Six Dinner Sid type. But when he showed up with a terrible limp and open wound which was obviously being left untreated for weeks, I took him to the vet as a stray. Turns out he had no chip, either, so they took him to be treated and adopted via their associated cat shelter. I possibly could have used social media to track down the owner but fuckem. If they couldn't be bothered to neuter, chip, and treat his injuries, then I can't be bothered to find them.

I don't think your neighbour is doing the right thing, though. If the cat is well looked after, unlike the cat in my street, then it obviously has an owner.

It's very annoying when people feed your cat, thinking they are being kind... mine had some medical issues which made her look scrawny and tatty (for which she was receiving medication and special food). I had to ask neighbour to stop feeding her as it was undoing all the good my expensive meds and food were doing.

This is one of the reasons mine aren't allowed out to roam and we've cat-proofed the garden instead.

I don't trust anyone except me to have my cats' interests at heart.

I have two cats, one who definitely doesn't entertain neighbours and one who definitely does! My friendly cat will sit in the middle of the road to greet local dog walkers for attention 😂

I also have a roster of about 5 cats who come round to sleep in the garden, use the cathouse I've got to watch the birds, roll in the cat mint or nap on the garden furniture. If the doors open in summer for a breeze it's like a zoo downstairs sometimes! They all get shooed about and sent home, one in particular wants to adopt us as his owners (I do know at home he's got several new dogs to contend with) and it breaks my heart but he gets kicked out all the same.

I wouldn't get involved. Not your cat, not your problem!