What do we do with this wandering cat?

[User562377]

We have 2 cats, supposedly a bonded pair of sisters when we adopted them, but they're not interested in each other at all. Aged about 4, they have lived with us for 2 years or so.

Anyway, one keeps wandering. She is regularly gone for a week at a time then comes back for the night and leaves first thing next morning.

She always looks well and healthy.

We've asked around buy no-one admits to feeding her. She's done this all through the winter so someone must be feeding her. Surely she didn't live off mice all winter?

Anyway, what should we do?

She hates being kept in. We try to keep her in when she gets back but she's so miserable and spends all her time trying to get out. With 3 kids and another cat it's impossible to keep her in. Unless we just shut her in a bedroom which she would hate.

Should we keep her shut in a bedroom for a week to remind her she lives here next time she comes home or will that just make her hate us and permanently move out first chance she gets?

She has a microchip and we have regularly given her a collar with a note but she's expert at losing them. Or her new owner is removing them, I don't know.

We're a busy house, maybe she's chosen to move in with an old person with a silent house and that's okay. I'd rather she was happy.

But we're in a bit of limbo here where we're responsible for her but never see her, and some unknown own person is caring for her but without taking responsibility. She's due her annual vaccination soon too and I'd hate her to get sick if she misses them. But it's £100 or so her new owner should be paying if they're getting all the pleasure of her company.

They don't have a litter box to leave outside but we've emptied the contents of our hoover up and down the street. Don't know if that makes any difference or just makes me look totally mad.

I think I’d keep her in , if only to see if anybody starts looking for her .

I have a wanderer too. I just regard her as a housemate. We have invented a secret life for her where she is actually a secret agent- she hears the "cat signal"and she's off on her next mission.

Really, don't keep her in. She'll just be miserable.

It's a tricky one! If she's out all the time, she's probably interacting with other cats quite a bit, so she will need to be vaccinated to protect her from disease. I think ultimately you are still responsible for this because legally she is your cat, but I can understand why you're a bit reluctant when you see so little of her! Try to sweeten it by thinking of all the money you're saving by not having to feed her for days at a time. There is a theoretical risk of her being double-vaccinated if she's been "adopted" by somebody else who thinks she's a stray and is having her wormed, vaccinated etc, but if her microchip is still working/readable, this is unlikely because I think vets check the microchip details every time a cat comes in for an apointment (well, mine does).

It sounds like she will only be happy if she's free to roam, and would become bored and frustrated if you try to keep her in. As she gets older, you'll probably find she spends more time at home. My cat is nearly seven, and she doesn't roam as much as she used to.

You could pop a tracker on her, find out whether she’s roaming or heading to one location. There are a few around at different price ranges.

I'd pay for the vaccines - you bought the cat and her health is your responsibility. I would also get a tracker because I'd want to know where she is and that she's safe. And if she doesn't come back one time, you'll know where to start checking.
I wouldn't keep her in if she's used to roaming. I have indoor cats but if I had one that was determined to roam I think I'd just have to learn to live with the stress of worrying about her.

Tracker. If you find out where she is going, maybe you could come to an arrangement with her "owner"?

It may not be one person she may be sofa surfing. We had a wandering cat, but she did usually come home at night, in the winter anyway. She also seemed to get into a lot of scrapes when she was AWOL would come home to recuperate and be off again, often missing for several days. She did become more of a home body when she got older if that's any comfort.

I love this.

I think I'd do this. This will tell you if she goes to one place. If she does I might be tempted to go there and tell whoever is feeding her to stop because she is your cat. I'd still get her vaccinated to protect her as she goes outside it's especially important for her. She must like you or she wouldn't come back at all. Make a fuss of her when she comes back. Offer her the quiet bedroom she might like the quiet. I'd Keep her in a quiet bedroom during the daytime for 4-5 days so she knows that is her home. In the evening when kids in bed make a fuss of her.

Oh, of course you need to keep her vaccinated! She's your cat!

She's your cat - you can't just not bother with her medical care because you feel she's not home enough

Some cats are wanderers and others aren't - it's one of the risks of having a cat that goes outdoors and off your property unfortunately. You can't control where they go or what they do.

Of course we'll vaccine her. Until someone else claims ownership.

I guess we just have to wait for her next to come back. Then we'll have to keep her in until we can get her to the vet.

She's had a tracker before but hates a collar. So we've had to search through neighbours gardens more than once to try to find it.

I'd hate to think she was injured or worse somewhere and we didn't know because we just assumed she was being fed wild salmon somewhere else. It's very frustrating.

We've put up posters, little flyers through likely doors, local Facebook posts.

I guess the crux of my question is, if or when she comes back-

Should we accept she comes and goes and that's that

Or

Should we keep her in for a few weeks like we did when she first arrived even though she will totally hate it and hate us and might never come home again

The weather is lovely just now too, she really won't want to stay in

Pop a Tractive tracking collar on her and find out where she goes.

We once had a pair of female litter mates. One of them decided she would rather live somewhere else, and we eventually discovered who by attaching a note to her collar asking the person to contact us, which she did. We came to an arrangement that basically if the cat was adamant that she wanted to live at her house, she might as well keep her.

We came to an arrangement that basically if the cat was adamant that she wanted to live at her house, she might as well keep her

That's pretty much where we're at but no-one will admit she's living with them. Either she's roaming round many places or the people don't want to admit because they're worried we'll be angry. At this point we'd just like to know one way or the other.

We'll try again with the collar and tracker if she comes home

Should we accept she comes and goes and that's that

Well, yes - that's part of owning an outdoor cat, surely? You can't force them to come back if they don't want to.

Unless you're going to keep her inside or cat-proof your property there isn't really another option.

@User562377 "Should we accept she comes and goes and that's that"

I absolutely think so. For me it's one of the joys of cat ownership-the mystery of them.

I have a cat like that Curlew kate.
In fact his nickname is 007, as he's always on a mission.😂
After 8 years we have to accept that this is just him, he won't change.
He won't stay in, he's miserable and becomes nasty and destructive.