We adopted 2 cats (supposedly a bonded pair but they don't actually care about each other at all) 2.5 years ago. Over this past year one has started wandering. She goes missing for weeks at a time. The longest time was 5 weeks. Usually she comes home every week or so for a night or 2 then disappears again. She is always well and healthy so we've sort of accepted she's a part-time cat.
She is due for her annual vaccinations now so we put some posters up again trying to find her on time.
I got a phone call today from a guy who lives in a quiet area maybe a quarter of a mile from us that backs onto the local park. It seems our cat has been living happily there between various houses and the park. He told me about 2 or 3 houses she goes between where they all feed her, she has cat beds and toys in their houses. They seem to treat her like some sort of communal pet. He said next time she comes to his house he'll call me and I can go and collect her.
He did say that once they had taken her to the local vet who said she was micro-chipped to a local address so he should just take her back and let her go. The vet didn't tell us she'd been in there. We've put notes on the local Facebook groups, put posters up in the past when she's been gone for longer than usual, so these people must know she has an owner.
So what do we do now?
We're responsible for her so we'll catch her and pay for her vaccinations. We've kept up with her flea and worm routines too because she's home often enough for us to do that.
We've tried to keep her indoors like you do with a new cat, but she's so miserable. She's just desperate to get out. She's a wanderer. And we've got 3 kids and another cat so it's hard to keep track of open doors and windows. She obviously prefers to live semi-wild beside the park going from house to house and eating all the mice in the park. She loves hunting. She can also roam a good distance around there without going near any roads so I guess it's the ideal environment for a cat like her.
I asked the man who phoned if he or anyone else wanted to become her owner since she obviously would rather live around there but he laughed and said no. Then proceeded to tell me what a great cat she is, what a great personality she has, how she loves sleeping on his bed during the day, he loves playing with her and the cat toys he buys for her. But no, he doesn't want to take responsibility for her.
She's never been insured so we don't pay that. But if anything was to happen to her, if she was to be injured or get sick we'd be the ones who would have to pay the bills.
Ideally someone in her new neighbourhood would take responsibility for her and that would be that. We'd be sad, but she's a cat and she's chosen a new home. At least we would know she was well and looked after.
But we're stuck in a limbo where I feel responsible for tracking down someone else's pet and paying for her vaccinations. Or else we just accept she lives elsewhere and let her go.
This post turned into a bit of a lengthy rant. Thanks for reading.