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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Cat has just come home with a collar on!

303 replies

kirinm · 04/10/2024 22:19

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?

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6
scalt · 05/10/2024 08:32

SilenceInside · 04/10/2024 23:02

Do people in the UK really build cat runs and cover their whole garden in order to keep their cats on their own property?? I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that.

Regardless, the law in the UK is that cats are allowed to roam. It's not irresponsible to allow cats out.

When my cat got very badly hurt while roaming (but survived), we considered building an elaborate cat run, with a tube from the house to outside. In the end, we got new fencing with freely rotating horizontal rollers along the top which he can't climb over, which has kept him in for the last three years. It was quite an investment, as we have a big garden, but it's worked.

As for "claiming" a cat: a cat kept coming into the house of one of my friends, for several weeks. My friend pleaded with me to give this cat a home, which I did, and gave her a collar. She was not chipped, but interestingly, she had been spayed. Nobody said "you've stolen my cat!" in fifteen years.

marmadukedoggo · 05/10/2024 08:34

My neighbours walk their adorable Bengal on a leash every day. He's stunning. My 2 are old and lazy and sleep most of the time. Never known them to leave our grounds.

StormingNorman · 05/10/2024 08:38

MumChp · 04/10/2024 22:53

How is law? In some countries the law says you need to keep your cat in your grounds. Just curious.

In the UK cats can go where they like.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 08:45

StormingNorman · 05/10/2024 08:38

In the UK cats can go where they like.

Not in my garden they can’t.

Heavier · 05/10/2024 08:46

kirinm · 05/10/2024 08:04

Our neighbour's cat does this to ours. They're both very young (or were when it started) and it's very cute.

My beautiful cat died (years ago now) and it was heart breaking when his friend came to call for him (rattling the cat flap) and I couldn’t explain in ways he’d understand that he wouldn’t be able to play anymore.

I hope you figure it out. It’s quite common for cats to adopt a second home.

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 08:47

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 08:45

Not in my garden they can’t.

Or they could, I suppose, but they might be very sorry they did.

KnittedCardi · 05/10/2024 09:03

It's not just the UK though is it?? Australia is an anomaly because cats aren't native. America is an anomaly because they still have bears, wolves, etc. Europe and North Africa have always had cats.. They are part of the ecosystem. They are allowed to be owned and to roam.

NikKai · 05/10/2024 09:15

My neighbour has put me off cats. He keeps his door open, his windows open, buys cat food and treats, and leaves food outside his door for them (nice attraction for rats you dickhead)

He doesn't own a single cat of his own. Not one. He lures all the neighbourhood cats in with this nonsense, now I can't have my door open in summer as I have had to chase cats around my house to get them out. And chuck a cup of water over another. They make a fucking racket on the roof to get to his window. And they fight like shit.

Now I can't stand cats. It's awful. If you don't own them don't fucking feed them or try to claim some kind of ownership. There are LOADS of cats round here now

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 09:32

KnittedCardi · 05/10/2024 09:03

It's not just the UK though is it?? Australia is an anomaly because cats aren't native. America is an anomaly because they still have bears, wolves, etc. Europe and North Africa have always had cats.. They are part of the ecosystem. They are allowed to be owned and to roam.

How is America an anomaly because they have bears and wolves?

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:36

MumChp · 04/10/2024 22:27

Keeping her own your grounds?

impossible. Cats aren't dogs they are smart and can escape anything

And, human do WAY more damage to wildlife than cats. Perhaps you should stay on your 'grounds' 😂

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:37

@MumChp

Cats are roamers

rainydaysandrainbows · 05/10/2024 09:37

NikKai · 05/10/2024 09:15

My neighbour has put me off cats. He keeps his door open, his windows open, buys cat food and treats, and leaves food outside his door for them (nice attraction for rats you dickhead)

He doesn't own a single cat of his own. Not one. He lures all the neighbourhood cats in with this nonsense, now I can't have my door open in summer as I have had to chase cats around my house to get them out. And chuck a cup of water over another. They make a fucking racket on the roof to get to his window. And they fight like shit.

Now I can't stand cats. It's awful. If you don't own them don't fucking feed them or try to claim some kind of ownership. There are LOADS of cats round here now

Is he feeding feral or stray cats? In which case it might be their only food. However if they're pets of local people that's not right

rainydaysandrainbows · 05/10/2024 09:39

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat

"Or they could, I suppose, but they might be very sorry they did."

Why don't you say what you would do to them then?

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 09:40

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:36

impossible. Cats aren't dogs they are smart and can escape anything

And, human do WAY more damage to wildlife than cats. Perhaps you should stay on your 'grounds' 😂

All damage done by cars is part of the damage done by humans, because cats are bred and kept by humans.

So the fledglings killed by your cat are killed because of you. This is damage you have caused.

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:42

BitOutOfPractice · 04/10/2024 23:57

It’s not “nature” though is it, when cats kill so many birds and small Mammals because it’s not “nature” for the uk to be home to so many millions (10+ million) of cats. They are here in such numbers by dint of pet ownership. It’s not “nature”. It’s human intervention and they Kill hundreds of millions of animals a year.

It's not nature for you to buy plastic wrapped chicken from Sainsbury's either with all the massive environmental damage that does.

I'll keep my cat in when human beings stop being so bloody hypocritical and buying dead things to eat that have been murdered by machine so they don't have to face up to what they are actually doing.

My cats eats everything he kills and doesn't make it travel thousands of miles in a refrigerator.

Allergictoironing · 05/10/2024 09:49

I once had to take a photo to persuade someone that actually it wasn't a neighbour's cat pooing in their garden, but a fox. Fox and cat poo looks and smells very similar and are often mistaken.

Those on here saying that it is the cat owner's responsibility to stop cats getting into the poster's garden - who's responsibility is it to keep foxes out? Or birds like crows who also kill and eat baby birds and small rodents? Or in some areas stoats & weasels? Or somebody's dog who has got out? Or feral cats?

And as for taking any cat found in your garden to a rescue! Chances are that the poor cat has already been rehomed by a rescue to the current owners. A rescue that is already stuffed to the gills with unwanted cats, rescued cats, strays & sometimes ferals. And you want to add to that with somebody's much loved pet who happens to have strayed over some (invisible to them) boundary.

The vast majority of cat owners do care for them. They got them because they wanted a CAT, not whatever pet seems to be cheap and easy to own. I wanted to have cats my whole life, but it wasn't until I was in my 50s that I had a lifestyle that would be suitable for cat ownership. I insure my cats as I know I wouldn't have the resources to pay out if something happened like an illness, but many people have plenty of "spare" money to spend if needed, and some put aside the cost of the premiums every month into a "cat" account to cover unexpected bills.

Some cats cost a fortune to buy, same as dogs. And some cost a nominal fee at a rescue, exactly the same as dogs.

I intentionally got rescue cats suitable as indoor only because it wouldn't be possible to catproof my garden or even build a catio (terraced slope, very little flat ground between the back of the house and the first rise).

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:50

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat

Tell me what you are yesterday and I'll tell you what damage you did the environment that day

NikKai · 05/10/2024 09:58

rainydaysandrainbows · 05/10/2024 09:37

Is he feeding feral or stray cats? In which case it might be their only food. However if they're pets of local people that's not right

I would guess both. Although none of them look stray. I know at least two are my other neighbours cats. Not sure about the rest, like I said they don't seem stray, look well fed etc, but I don't think he cares either way. He's very odd. I used to like cats but it's a nuisance now to be honest. I wouldn't be cruel to them but I have no patience now

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 10:02

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:50

@ChardonnaysBeastlyCat

Tell me what you are yesterday and I'll tell you what damage you did the environment that day

I’m not claiming I did not do any damage myself.

What I'm saying is that cat owners need to own up that the damage done by their cats is done by them by proxy.

Those cute little baby mice and birds? It’s not just your cat that killed them.

MadKittenWoman · 05/10/2024 10:04

@MumChp

In the UK cats have a legal right to roam.

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 05/10/2024 10:05

Yup, destruction of habitats, buildings, windows.

workplaceshenanigans · 05/10/2024 10:06

MumChp · 04/10/2024 23:44

I don't care if it poos in my garden or walk into my house. It's handed over to a shelter.

So you're a criminal are you?

IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle · 05/10/2024 10:08

Tiredofthewhirring · 05/10/2024 09:42

It's not nature for you to buy plastic wrapped chicken from Sainsbury's either with all the massive environmental damage that does.

I'll keep my cat in when human beings stop being so bloody hypocritical and buying dead things to eat that have been murdered by machine so they don't have to face up to what they are actually doing.

My cats eats everything he kills and doesn't make it travel thousands of miles in a refrigerator.

Causes of bird loss

The issues affecting songbirds - habitat loss

Nearly half of the world’s bird species are in decline, with a large contributing factor being the loss of their habitat due to land-use change. Learn More About the issue of habitat loss affecting our UK songbirds and other small birds.

https://www.songbird-survival.org.uk/who-we-are/the-issues/habitat-loss#:~:text=Nearly%20half%20of%20the%20world's,due%20to%20land%2Duse%20change&text=Habitats%20become%20increasingly%20fragmented%20by,major%20risk%20for%20their%20extinction.

Toddlerteaplease · 05/10/2024 10:11

That cat is clearly doing the I'm starving routine!

KnittedCardi · 05/10/2024 10:17

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 05/10/2024 09:32

How is America an anomaly because they have bears and wolves?

As in, needing to keep them in for safety. Australia for the safety of native species, America for the safety of the cat. Europe, cats are native species, and don't have many predators left.