Cat decided it wants to live with us

[Esmemcia]

A neighbour’s cat has decided it wants to live with us. I’m not sure why - we haven’t fed it or let it in to the house although the kids have petted it in the garden. It stays in our garden and meows/paws at door to get in. Doesn’t go home so neighbours have to come and collect it every evening, then they keep it in overnight to much protests, then it runs back over here once it’s let back out again. Neighbours are starting to get a bit fed up and are making noises about us just having the cat. Neither me nor DH have ever owned a cat though. Plus we’re not keen on ‘stealing’ these people’s cat, however inadvertently. They’ve tried shutting her in but she protests. Everything I read is that cats decide these things for themselves but I really think she’d be better off with her owners. Plus the fact that she seems ‘to know her own mind’ makes me a bit nervous about taking her on. First question is, can anyone think of any solutions? Second is, if we took her, what should we be considering as completely inexperienced owners taking in an 8 year old pedigree cat?

I'm not sure why you have so many people ignoring your posts and having an agenda about this cat, lol.

Cats do wander in to people's homes - they're opportunists and will do what the please!

It seems very strange that the cat bothers hanging around your door if you aren't feeding it or letting it in 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/3564597-Next-doors-thug-cat?page=1

I agree that something changed territorially. A cat was coming to our garden regularly (we didn’t fed him or let him at the house) then neighbours down the road took a new cat and he started coming to our garden regularly ( he is there all the time practically, he’s just visiting home for food) Since then the first cat is coming much less.
I don’t encourage/ discourage any of them by the way. I can see them on camera or from the window.

Could your DC fed the cat without you knowing?

Thanks so much for this link. Enjoying your thread so much. After one page I got a cup of tea and leftover Easter egg and enjoyed the next 14 pages, all the time with NDN’s cat staring at me and meowing at the patio doors. She’s very vocal. Not bengal but ragdoll I believe.

Going to enjoy the rest of it shortly.

I’ve replied to NDN saying no on the basis of this thread. I think realistically it’s too much of a financial commitment. Also wary of committing financially and the kids getting attached to her with the prospect of her returning. As well as the worry that neighbours might feel it was my plan all along on the basis of this thread. I’m not sure where that’s going to leave things.

Going to enjoy the rest of it shortly.
Only fair to warn you that are 5 threads about TC 😲🤣.

We once had a cat choose us. The owners were often out/away so I suspect their house was cold and lonely so she preferred ours. She never got fed but did get some attention in our house. Unfortunately there were allergies in the family so we couldn't take her and we tried not to let her in but she often found a way. She would even wait until someone came home then make a run for the front door as they were going in. The dog we had at the time loved her too. It only ended when we moved house. If we could have taken her in we would have.

The OP is clearly not trying to lure it away.
We had a visitor cat. It was incredibly sneaky and quick getting in and would often hide once it got indoors. We weren't feeding it. We weren't sure who it belonged to but I'm 99% certain it was a really unpleasant family a few doors away. They had no cat flap and would often be away for a couple of days leaving it behind. It started coming in when the weather was bad.
A couple of times it jumped in our car as we were about to go out and I had to drag the poor thing out.
It's absolutely false to say that people must be feeding or luring cats that do this. I asked advice from keen cat owners at the time, who told me that cats who do this probably want to leave their current home and are looking for a new one.

Oh my. I don’t know if that’s great news as it’s my scrolling sorted for a few days or anxiety-provoking as it reflects how long your situation has continued without it sorting itself out.

I think obviously there are times when people do lure cats from their owners, and the emotive responses to my thread reflect how upsetting this is for owners. And times when owners are rubbish and the cat moves out. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s either of those things. Her owners adore her and say they are distraught and I’m pretty confident she loves them given the speed she runs to them when they call her. We are genuinely not feeding/luring her or attempting to steal her/torment the neighbours. It feels instinctual and I sought advice thinking there might be a solution worth trying. But maybe there isn’t. Which is sad.

We've been chosen by 2 different cats over the years. Once when the owners down the road emigrated and left their cat behind, and secondly by stealth as she first moved into our shed when pregnant and the owners didn't want to have to deal with her and her 2 kittens. In both instances they became well loved members of the family.

We have another cat locally who broke our catflap trying to get into our kitchen over Easter. Our 2 cats were not impressed judging by their bad language at him. I now keep a small water pistol by the back door To encourage him to back away