Cat has just come home with a collar on!

[kirinm]

My cat has just come in with a collar on. She doesn't have a collar. I feel like someone is trying to claim her. What are we meant to do to signal that she has a home?

I hate the constant pictures of cats and their irate 'owners' demanding that people stop feeding or give back their cat. If the owners are that arsed about a creature that is allowed to roam then airtag it, you will then be able to pick up it's shit too

That is super weird - I'd be keeping her in for a few days. Failing that, could you put a GPS collar on her and watch where she goes on the tracking map. May give you an idea of which house it is.

Yes I think we will do some sort of GPS. I don't like the idea that she could be getting trapped in at night (she isn't coming home all the time).

GPS requires a line of sight to the sky to work, so you won't get a signal from her if she is indoors (only the last point a signal was sent when outside) An AirTag or something that uses a different technology that doesn't rely on line of sight to the sky might be better.

Ah thanks. I'll try air tag. She didn't come home at all yesterday or this morning so I feel like she is being locked in.

I'd be posting on Facebook again making it more clear!

I put a note on Facebook when o thought DCar was being fed by others, and got a collar saying don't feed me I have a home on it too
Bloody cat cost though 😱🤪

I have but people think it's funny. I get a lot of 'well, how is anyone meant to know she has a home'. Is it just my area or does everyone think the country is overrun by healthy looking strays?

I would use a GPS tracker like Paw Fit rather than Apple Tag - we used Apple Tag on our dog and it was beyond useless. Paw Fit is excellent and also works inside

Wow, there’s some arseholes on this thread!

I hope you manage to get to the bottom of this OP. I agree a tracker is a good idea and I hope whoever is doing this leaves her alone.

She’s gorgeous BTW!

@PinkSparklyPussyCat They’d have sheep farmers picking up droppings and fitting sound mufflers on them if they moved to the countryside.

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy why do sheep roam into your garden in the country?

My mum would have cattle roam into her garden and eat all the cabbages from the veg patch when she was a child because the farmer's fence was pants and the cattle would push it over.

It's quite a regular occurrence in our village. They have the right to roam and will go into a garden if the gate is open

I think part of the problem is people are also getting used to overweight cats. From what I can tell your cat looks a healthy weight but to most people would look thin. I remember asking my vet if my cat was too thin or are others overweight. He said most are overweight and mine was fine.
I work with someone who's cats always bring friends with them, and she thinks they're too thin and wants to feed them.

If she's happy to wear a collar, as others have said I would put your own collar/tracker on. Maybe see if you can keep her in for a little bit, might break the cycle

This happened to my friend. She left the collar on and attached a note to it saying cat had a home and here was her number - turned out a distant neighbour thought cat was a stray until she saw the note. I’ve never seen a cat coat before, that’s a serious level of commitment to claiming her!

@Chester23 she's not overweight but we are repeatedly told by the vet that she shouldn't put on anymore weight.

We've been locking her in at night and she's coming home for breakfast and dinner which is pretty much the best we ever get from her.

We are going to buy a tag too.

Oooh so you can find out where she is

I didn't mean she was over weight. I meant if she is a healthy weight it's possible who ever is taking/feeding her thinks she is as a lot of cats a little chunky so we get used to seeing them like that. Which might make them thinks she's stray

I’d tempted to write on it in Sharpie “Stop trying to steal my cat!!” And send her back out.

The thread is about cats. Where is it stated that you must have a positive view of cats to read and comment here?

I come here to provide my viewpoint on cat behaviour, thinking cat owners might be interested in what people who don't have cats might think about having to share their gardens with these vicious predators.

It's in The Litter Tray
Does tend to attract people who love cats normally

Have you visited the Royal Family board lately? It attracts people with strong opinions, monarchists and republicans.

I think it would be quite easy to tell which neighbour put a coat on your cat.
It will be the one with bandaged fingers and scratch marks down the side of their face!

Ok