My “missing cat” has been found, and doesn’t want to come home!

[unhappycat]

Backstory: I rescued a cat in February. The foster family I rescued him through, wasn’t an official foster family (ie through a charity) but the lady had taken the cat in as he had been mistreated in his other home. She said he was around 1 years old, great with kids and dogs but not so great with cats (she had 3) so needed to rehome him.

I have two young children and have a lot of support from my parents who come to the house a lot with their dog who cannot be left at home alone (a whole other thread needed about that!)

It quickly became apparent that the cat did not like dogs. Fine, when my parents dog was in the house I would keep them separate. But he also clearly didn’t like being around young children, noise etc. He would often bite and scratch me unprovoked and after a couple of months I started to let him outside to burn off some energy and he would return in late at night.

I was concerned that he wasn’t happy here and would probably benefit from a home with no children/visiting dogs.

Then one night he didn’t come home. I was frantic with worry that something had happened to him, put up posters locally and on Facebook.

4 months has since passed and I received a message from someone in a very nearby street stating they think they have my cat. I went round to see if it was him. I walked into the house and he was happily lying on a cat bed, and had clearly been very well fed and taken care of! He wasn’t happy to see me 😂😂. Neighbour confirmed that he has been feeding him and letting him into the house for 4 months… I don’t know all of the details but the house didn’t appear to have any children and it was apparent cat was very happy there. Attempted to put the cat in a cat carrier but he was absolutely furious and wouldn’t get in! So I ended up driving home with him on my passenger seat with him growling and jumping around the whole time.

As soon as he got into the house he got distressed and ran to the back door, making an awful growling noise as if he just wanted to be outside.

I am concerned that it’s not going to work out with him being here, he has essentially been living at my neighbours house for the same amount of time as he was with me… and was clearly happier there. But where do I stand with this? Could I offer to let him stay with the neighbour if he’s ok with this?

They seemed very positive @DreamOfTheRarebitFiend… they are clearly more experienced cat owners and mentioned they lost a cat (had to be put to sleep 😔) that was very similar in appearance just before my cat started to visit them.

Oh, I'm so glad! Sounds like it was fate. You're a really lovely person to put the cat's happiness first.

Also, LOL, how do cats always know when there's a vacancy? My next door neighbours got a cat in exactly the same way. Their kitty had to be put to sleep, and a few weeks later, here's another one, meowing and looking adorable and saying, 'I demand you adopt me.' (He was being bullied by another cat in his original home, and eventually was officially adopted by my neighbours with his previous owners' blessing!)

Yes, to go and asking them if they would consider taking him.

No to "take him to a rescue". That's not how it works. Certainly call rescues to see if any can help, but it's very likely they won't be able to

Just seen the update! Glad it worked out.

I have learnt a lot about cats in a short space of time having only had dogs previously for years!

They are far more complex and clever than I had ever thought could be possible! He certainly sensed a “gap” in that house… when I went to get him yesterday he was lounging at the top of a cat tree on the bed like he ruled the roost whilst the other cats were roaming around!

I think your cat has made its decision. I remember as a child my Mum rescued a cat, I was one of four and my house always had loads of kids playing round, we had another cat, a dog, a gerbil etc... chaos!

Sam the rescue was a battered black and white tom and soon after we got him he came home with a huge hole in his throat from a fight, cost my parents an absolute fortune at the vets.

Soon after this Sam made it his mission to move in next door, with a quiet older couple with no kids and a much nicer house including a swimming pool.

We walked past Sam every day on the way to school, he used to laze on the front drive of his swanky new home. He gave zero fucks and had zero gratitude haha.

@unhappycat Well done!

Yes, cats are a very different species to dogs! Maybe get a kitten, they’ll probably settle in fine with the kids and noise. More likely to at least!

We have a neighbour’s cat who seems to want to adopt us. We don’t feed it, but it clearly prefers our home, (garden, greenhouse), to its own. She’s been pushed out by another cat, and worked her way down the neighbours, but next door got a puppy, so she continued down! 😂 The owner doesn’t seem to understand this…. 🤷‍♀️ But she’s lovely so welcome, and she tolerates our dog. Always had cats growing up, but don’t have one currently, well, officially anyway… 😉

Relieved at that outcome! Now, if you do want to be a cat owner with the right cat in future, sort out this business of your parents coming round with their dog all the time. Dogs take a lot more management than cats IMO..

@CatGuardianAfraid the parents and dog issue is a bit of a non-negotiable (however irritating!) I rely on my parents to help with wraparound childcare before and after school for my children so that I can work. And they have created an issue where they have a dog who cannot be left at home alone so they have to take him everywhere they go!

Thanks for the update @unhappycat , sorry it's not the outcome you originally wanted but it is obviously what the cat wanted, and I am glad that you didn't have to resort to a rescue, in the end 💐

All's well that ends well. Glad to see your update OP.

Thanks for the update. You have done the best thing for your cat- reading this made me teary.

So glad you’ve had a happy ending! I wonder if he’ll wander by to see you!