“Stray” cat quandry

[SigrunGard]

So, my mum has had a young cat ( no more than 5 months old) effectively living in her garden for the last few weeks. He was very thin but after a few weeks of regular feeding he’s now at a good weight. He’s very friendly and comes in and out of the house for cuddles and to sit on a lap.

We took him to the vets today for a check over and it turns out he is microchipped- we were surprised as we hadn’t been able to feel one. Any way the owner was contacted and said that he had moved away but if my mum just shut him out of the house, he’d go back to his son’s .

Mum is at a loss as to what to do for the best. She’s happy to keep him and he gets on well with her existing cat but the owner hasn’t said she can have him. We haven’t keep him shut in at all and if he wanted to go back to the owners son he has had every opportunity!

so wise denizens of the Litter Tray - any experience of this sort of situation.? Mum will keep feeding him anyway as he was so thin when he arrived. But what about the fact he has an owner?

photo for cat tax!

If the owner wanted dcat they would have come and collected him ASAP.. Congratulations on your new dcat op.
They do have a habit of choosing their own owner...

Keep the cat !

He is gorgeous! As he has free roam, your mum is doing what has been asked of her. I'd just keep doing what you're doing. If was that hungry then surely he doesn't want to go back to the owner's son OR if they did want him back they would have collected him. Do what is in the cats best interests.

Oh what a beautiful little cat!

He’s chosen where he wants to be and who can blame him. His previous owner sounds useless.

They don't want him or they would have collected him.

Beautiful little soul. How callous of the owner!
One quite similar seems to like visiting me - but I think he lives with a busy young family and pops in for respite. I don't feed him though, as he's not underweight. He still tries to charm me for snack though

Thank you everyone.

He is a lovely little cat - we’ve named him Pip. Doesn’t meow but lots of chirrups and prrps.

Mum’s main concern is now the vet knows he is not “hers” whether they will let her get him treated/ jabbed etc. Fortunately he’s already neutered!

Any way your mum (maybe via the vet?) is able to contact the original owner and let them know the history, that the cat was underweight and has shown no interest in going anywhere else, so could she be allowed to take on the cat as it obviously doesn't want to be with her son?

He is a real cutie btw! Agree with others that the son obviously doesn't want him, it's just the 'legal' bit that needs sorting out

It was the vet that called the original owner but of course we don’t know what exactly was said, just that the response was to shut him outside and the cat would just go back to his sons…yeah, right!

plan is to keep going as we are for a month or two and then apply to get the chip updated to my mum’s details and see what happens!

You can't just take someone's cat 😬

Honestly, stop feeding it and let it alone. It's not your mums' cat. I'd she wants a cat, she should go to a rescue centre and adopt one, not take someone else's!

I wonder if all the posters supporting this would be happily saying the same if it was their cat being fed and "catnapped" like this by a neighbour.

The cat has been living in her garden, it has abandoned the home it was forced into; maybe the son didn't really want it/has dogs the cat doesn't like/ditto kids......and has made no effort to find or retrieve the cat....the cat is a living animal and not simply a possession and deserves someone who will care for it, the son plainly doesn't

And yes I am aware of cats that were loved but left because of a change in circumstances: my sister's cat left because they got a dog, my friend's cat, who had to have a quiet environment, left because another cat in the house had kittens and it couldn't stand them. Both came back to their first homes for a 'visit', both saw circumstances had not changed and immediately left, but that visit did allow my sis and my friend to see that the cat was well fed and know that they had been abandoned rather than something awful having happened to the cat. Also, neither cat just walked out in the beginning, they gradually stayed out for longer and longer, then just coming in for food and going out immediately, then finally not coming back at all once (from their well-kept appearance) had found a home that suited them. It would have been cruel to force both cats to stay in their original homes.

If he had been well-fed and was just visiting, then of course we wouldn’t have fed him. There are a couple in the area who do that. But he was skin and bone and young and that can’t be ignored! My mum already has a cat actually and wasn’t looking to get another!

the “owner” told the vet that the cat was an outdoor only cat - he’s far too young for that for a start. If the cat wanted to go back to the sons he could - we have never shut him in the house but he never seems to leave the garden. So should we just have let him starve?

One cat we had just wandered in one day and stayed. No microchips back then. Wasn't neglected looking and I have no idea what steps my mother took to find the owner but we had her for years.
I think this cat has chosen your mother and the reaction from the owner - who hadn't suggested they have the cat back or the son come get it - so guess they are fine with this new arrangement.
I don't think the vet will care as long as someone pays for the vaccines/treatment.

How far away is the son?

Maybe contact the vet after a week tell them shutting him out hasn't worked would the son be interested in rehoming to you

If you're genuinely concerned, then you report to the appropriate authorities and let them take care of it - you can't just take a cat you know has an owner and decide you're going to keep it 😬

If he wasn't chipped or neutered then fair enough, but he is - he has an owner. You may disagree with how he's being kept but that doesn't give you the right to just take take it 🤷‍♀️

I've seen so many threads on here about skinny or scraggly cats (who are all very much loved) and who have been "taken in" by neighbours who feed them etc.

Ultimately this cat is not your mum's cat, he's chipped and has an owner. By all means speak the owner about re-homing but you can't just take someone's pet and decide you're going to keep it!

No idea - vet can’t pass on any details but we assume the son can’t be too far way

we don’t know exactly what the vet said, but we had told him that the cat was free to leave if he wanted, but no idea if that was passed on to the owner

The chip company aren't going to just change the name on the registration on the say so of a random individual with no proof of transfer of ownership. The current owner needs to do it, and that is not your mum. Ask the vet to give your details to the son to get in touch with you direct to agree what to do here.

While I don't necessarily like it, cats can and do live outside. That is not a problem in itself. Neglect is, but being young and skinny isn't evidence of neglect. If the cat had got lost and then your mum started feeding it, of course it isn't going to leave and go home.

My neighbour has a cat like this owner died, son took on but he's out at work all day and most evenings. The cat started turning up every day, they made enquiries found the son and phoned him every time. It got ridiculous after a couple of months so now the cat does his own thing spending days at the neighbours going home now and again.

Yes, we realise that the chip won’t be changed on just our request. Depending on the company I believe the owner will be given 28 days to object- if they do, so be it. But they could have come and collected him, we rather hoped that would be what happened.

Skinny in older cats most certainly isn’t necessarily a sign of neglect- thyroid issues in particular leave them terribly scrawny. But a skinny 4/5 month old kitten ( which is all he is according to the vets) just isn’t being fed properly- is that not neglect?

We were in the same position as you. Cat skin and bones, eating fallen fruit in the snow - owner said it's fine as he's seen the cat catch a squirrel so it knows how to hunt if it's hungry 😡

I got the Cats Protection involved and their local helper was absolutely lovely and managed to get him to sign his cat over to them. It took a lot from me and her but I had photos on my wildlife cameras to prove how skinny she was. I wasn't interested in keeping her but I'm damned if I'm going to ignore a starving animal.

Anyway, get the vet to pass your phone number to the son but failing that see if CP will get involved, esp if you have proof of him being skinny.

Lovely cat! He looks like a good weight in the picture. I have two cats though, and one has always been very slim, it's just the way he is. He was like it as a kitten and still like it now. His brother is the opposite! I feed them both the same.

My mum has a 'stray' coming to her for food, but it has a home and just likes the treats she gives it, it turns up every day. She did wonder at first. But when I was young, there was a kitten who moved into our garage. We found out where it lived and took it back, but the owner just grabbed it and threw it inside. Next time it came back, we gave it away to someone else. I had a cat some years ago that I really loved, but it stopped coming home after my baby started walking and moved in with someone else. We tried to keep it at home but it just wasn't happy and wouldn't stay there.

Where is the cat at night? Sleeping in the garden or going home? One of my cats is an opportunist who sneaks into other houses and eats their cat food but he always comes home to sleep.

The photo was taken Saturday after he’s been filling his face for 4 weeks! We’ve had naturally slim cats ourselves but never felt ribs/spine as you could on him

He sleeps in the garden, doesn’t ever appear to leave it. No matter what time you go out there he will appear. Mum let hers out around 3.30am the other day and he was there.

@SigrunGard I always say you get out of cats what you put into them. If you give them security, affection, sufficient food and shelter they will repay you a thousandfold in loyalty and companionship.

If you neglect, underfeed and fail to provide them with shelter they will vote with their feet like the sensible little animals they are.

Your Mum hasn’t just “taken someone’s cat”. She’s fed a half-starved, neglected kitten who needed help and she’s prepared to go on doing so because she is a kind person who won’t stand by while an animal suffers. Well done to her.

Rescue shelters are drowning in unwanted cats and kittens. The owner has moved away and left the cat, and his son can’t be bothered to collect him. He shouldn’t even be outside fending for himself at this age.

Realistically, no one is going to make this little one’s life any better but your lovely Mum.