Sellers leaving behind their cat….

[CooCooCachoo]

The sellers of the house we are imminently about to complete on (in France) informed us on a visit just before completion that the house comes with a resident ‘stray’. A cat they have been feeding, vaccinating, has been castrated and is quite obviously at home in their garden (apparently doesn’t go inside) for at least 10 years. They also told us that he is definitely around 12 years old. Except, he doesn’t act like a stray and was obviously quite perplexed when the owner kept shooing it out of the front door! Really can’t believe they would just leave the poor thing behind although I don’t think they have a lot of choice as divorcing and one moving into a flat, the other is simply not interested in taking the cat. They’re dumping their cat on us aren’t they? The outside space is relatively small (town garden) although house relatively large. My cats are definitely outdoor cats though and are already going to be mightily peeved at mandatory lockdown when we move. Interested in any input on how to socialise our existing two (female) cats with this one.

If you don't want the cat they will have to make arrangements for it to be rehomed.

Poor little thing

They clearly don't care.

OP, is there a room you could contain the cat in, and then either find another home for it or see if it can integrate into your family?

That seems very unlikely. The conversation was essentially that he is a stray and it’s up to us if we want to continue to feed him or not

Someone else on here mentioned "scent swapping".
You'd take something their cat uses/sleeps on and switch it with something your cats sleep on so that they get used to each others scent. Would this be a possibility?

I would ask them to be honest about whether their "stray" uses the house or not. Could you let your own cats out in the house then shut them in a room and let him roam about inside whilst they are shut away for a few days before slowly introducing them?

It would be an upstairs/downstairs sort of split as quite open plan. Our cats are siblings so very used to each other and we have no experience of introducing other cats into the mix. Will they just find their own territory within the house or will we have to physically separate them? I think we probably need to see how it goes before trying to rehome. He is very obviously an older cat so don’t fancy his chances.

Are you moving to France or within France? Cats in gardens are pretty common where I am in rural France.

I have 9 strays who are currently residing in my garden. One is chipped and vaccinated and has moved into the house, but the others were mostly dumped by their mum or lost their mum so we've fed them and they get flea and worming tablets regularly. We also catch them and get them neutered to try and stem the flow but not many other people seem to want to take on the responsibility.

The cat if taken to a new house might well find it's way back to you anyway.

If it doesn't get fed or get on with your cats it is likely to wander off somewhere else in time.

It's not the cats fault.

Thanks for the suggestion, there is a spare bedroom downstairs that might work. Will speak to the owners again and make sure they leave us something that he sleeps on. Although husband will have to have that conversation because I really can’t believe they would just discard an older cat like that. I might not be very polite….

I’m starting to get a sense of that, we are currently renting in a small village nearby and there is definitely a feral cat colony nearby, we have put extra food out ourselves when they are in the garden. These are clearly feral cats though. The cat at this house doesn’t seem like a stray, he is quite friendly, rolled over for belly rubs at my husband’s feet and is quite a rotund old gent. I wouldn’t have the heart to relegate him to the garden when he has obviously had a more comfortable life. We are just going to have to make it work aren’t we? I agree it’s not the cats fault, I feel immensely sorry for the poor thing as we have children and other cats, the previous owners were pretty much in the house alone with a much older child.

I feel you, I really do.

I currently have one barn cat from the farm up the road who treated him abysmally but with food, worming tabs, a heat mat in the winter and regular clean bedding, a few brushes down with some warm water, and kittens to clean him, he has gone from skinny stinky manky old fella to the fittest dude in the village. He used to come round to snaffle any of the kittens' food they left behind, and is now a permanent fixture. Any chance he gets he leaps past us, dives past our feet, has been known to launch himself at hip height to get past our blocking of him just to get to the indoor food. Which is exactly the same as we give him outside but that doesn't stop him.

Knowing what I know now, it would be better to just feed him inside and then let him out again, rather than leave food outside as the randoms in the village will find it.

Short version: We inherited a 16 yo angry cat when we moved and we had two brothers of our own. They tolerated each other and eventually she softened up and was a much loved "family member" until she died at 23. So I say take her in 😻

Something like this happened to a former neighbour of mine. They moved in to discover a cat was resident there, the seller had just left it behind! They didn’t even like cats. But they kept it anyway.

Can you not speak to your lawyer to make sure that no cat is a condition of sale?

We spoke to our Mairie [mayor, 4 doors down from ours, the cats mainly give birth in their barns] about their legal responsibility to pay for them to be neutered and her assistant said 'just kill them'.

It doesn't exactly work the same way here!

Sounds to me like you have won another cat.
Either that or rehome it when you move in- www.la-spa.fr/

If you contact the Mairie, there will be a local organisation that deals with strays and ferals. They can point you towards it. They will be able to help with trapping and relocating. Our local one does a round up every few months for healthchecks and sterilisation.

If it is a stray/feral, it should have a v cut from one ear to indicate it has been 'done'. If not, it is likely to be domesticated.

The SPAs are all full to the brim.

I've had several spayed/neutered and they never do this unfortunately.

The French logic does my head in. They moan about the strays and then even if you are paying for it, they won't let you neuter too many in one time period. It is mental.

As I said Alison it looks like they have won a cat

Introduce them slowly over 7 weeks, keep your cats and new cat completely separate for first week. Make sure all cats have plenty of blankets and ideally toys that encourage them to rub their faces on them. He will settle fine as he will be used to the house.

Scent swap blankets and one or two toys after 10 days. After two weeks, one day when you clean out their litter trays, don't wash them out (make sure to do this when there's nothing needing cleaned off) and put fresh litter in and swap them over too.

Repeat process again.
Make sure you give solo new cat attention too.

After second litter swap, use a baby gate in the doorway to keep them separate but let them see each other.
Try to have someone play with the cat/cats on either side at the same time so they aren't laser focused on each other. Build up the length of time they can see each other each day over a week. It should give you good indication of reaction and if they will accept each other.

I wouldn't be bringing any cat into the house without vaccinations personally...I'd just feed it inside and then let it out again.

If it is to live in the house it needs to be chipped, vaccinated and have all the treatments.

@AlisonDonut it's very common where we are, they've been doing the v thing as long as I can remember. It means they don't waste time trying to trap cats that have already been done. I thought it was a common thing.

There was a big push this year as numbers were getting out of hand. Some people bring their cats on holiday with them and then leave without them if they can't find them when it's time to go! I've always found that rather shocking. I know that I will turn into a mad cat lady, I have two regulars and four occasional visitors. I also have a fox and a boar family that like to use the garden as a short cut.

I take in ferals that turn up here, just keep in a separate room to begin with.

it may well be easier as the new cats scent will already be in the home.

Jackson Galaxy has some good videos on introducing cats.

I suspect if you refuse to take him he is likely to be driven somewhere and dumped, it happens surprisingly often.

I know - don't get me started. It's bloody obvious that nicking the ear means we don't waste our time and effort. I tend to keep an eye on who is doing what and when I see a female who is raising the interest of the boys, do my best to catch them and get them done as a priority. The problem is that they then need a day in my potting shed [with plenty of feed, water, bedding and the heat mat] and once they come out they think of that as home and spend the next god knows how many months trying to get back into it again after their initial bolt when I leave the door open for them.

😲😲😲🤯