My cat has rehomed herself but we’re moving house

[rainbowsinheaven]

7 years ago I got a cat. About 3 years ago she stopped coming home very often, she hasn’t actually now been back to my House for over 2 years but I see her in the village, she’s safe, fat and clearly been fed by other people if not living with other people. If we walk the dog and carry her home when we see her she will come back, eat then leave again. We’ve tried and tried to get her to stay but she won’t.
We are now moving out of the village. Would you take her or leave her? My son will still go school in village so we will see her.

The other option would have been to keep the cat inside at all times, unfortunately cats choose where to live and there is not much you can do about it
I have gained 2 cats this way nd while I tried to encourage both to leave it just didn't happen and they lived out their lives with me

I don’t think it’s ok to just claim someone else’s cat to be honest, even if they do keep hanging around your house. I wouldn’t feed someone else’s cat.

This “cat distribution system” nonsense. It’s not ok.

Its not so simple when you have a cat flap and cats already.
I didn't want more cats but beyond sending them out every time I saw them and asking around I wasn't sure what else to do.
With one I put an ad in the paper (was a long time ago) and a lady rang me and said it sounded like her cat - everything fit and she arranged to come and have a look but then she didn't turn up and I never heard from her again

I'd go with a note on the collar to find out who she's with and if they will keep her permanently. If no one comes forward you should probably take her.

Put a post on local FB groups with a picture and explain the situation? Someone might pop up and say they assumed she was stray and have adopted her. Then you can liaise to see if they are happy to keep her.

Poor cat though. You obviously weren’t bothered about her or you’d have made an effort to bring her home.

Surely you just dont feed them? They won’t come back if you don’t feed them. And you can get those cat flaps that only open for cats with the right collar or something.

If you were determined enough about having no more cats you’d make it happen.

I'm sorry, but that's just nonsense.

Cats wander but they can only "choose where they live" if other people let them in and feed them. It doesn't sound like OP has made any effort to keep her cat inside or to check where it's been living at any point in the last two years.

I get worried if any of my cats are gone overnight and will ask on social media if anyone has seen them - I can't imagine just letting them wander for two years!

It's not always obvious that a cat has (another) home, if it is always hanging around your house you eventually assume it's a stray. We had a lovely friendly ginger tom suddenly appear and stayed around, we spoke to him but didn't feed him, one of our neighbours eventually more or less adopted him and let him sleep in her conservatory with her dogs! We couldn't find his owner (asked up and down the road) and no one ever claimed him, it would have been cruel to leave him to fend for himself.

My cat flap had one of those things so it only worked if my cat was going through. He worked out how to have it close enough to let his mates in. My kitchen was party central for the local cats.

I feed MY cats and they did have the collar cat flaps
A determined stray can get through those cat flaps (as we found) and share my cats food
Believe me I did not want 4 cats and did keep chucking them out but they just kept coming back - I even saw a cat that looked like one of my new cats outside a nearby house and figured maybe they were siblings so I knocked and asked if they had lost one but they said no. As i said I put an ad in the paper for the other one

What will you do, OP? I would expect to leave her but try to find who has taken her in to trsfer microchp etc.

I had exactly this happen to me with one of my cats. I moved house, but only a 10 minute walk away from original property. One of my cats was not impressed and he kept returning to the old road. I constantly had to go back and find him and bring him home.

Then he found a single chap on the original road and he literally moved in with him. I did have the man's mobile number and he used to contact me whenever my cat needed to go to the vet - he was a bit of a scrapper.

I used to pick him up, get him sorted at the vet and take him back to my new house. He would have a meal, maybe hang around for a bit before disappearing back up the road to this chap's house!

My cat used to come home every month or couple of months just to visit. He would say hello, have a meal and then disappear off again. This went on for over 3 years. I just had to accept that my cat had made his decision about where he wanted to be although it was obviously upsetting. He didn't want to live in the new house with me and that was that. He was happy and well looked after so I just felt that I had to go along with this arrangement.

Then one day on the grapevine, I heard that the man had handed in his notice at his rental and was moving away. I had no idea what would happen next. He had assured me that he wouldn't take my cat, but I just didn't know what my cat would do in his absence. I was very worried about it.

The day came when the man was leaving and he sent me a text to say goodbye and he was just about to go. He was very sad at leaving my cat as he had really fallen in love with him, and obviously my cat loved him back.

Literally half an hour later, my cat strolled into my back door at the new house like he had never left! He just moved right back in after over 3 years like nothing had happened. I just could not believe it. He never left after that day and has been with me ever since. He is an old man now and has lived a very full life that is for sure.

So I would honestly say, please don't move away without your cat or at least find out where he is living and what the situation is. As my cat did this and one day moved back like he had never been gone.

Regardless - if she's chipped to you then you are considered responsible - i'm a vet nurse and situations like this arise and are always difficult to sort out when there is no 100 percent ownership.
Meanwhile potentially a sick or injured cat is left hanging around in a vets kennel.

Sounds like your cat has another home. But I'd find that out for sure and then speak to the other 'owner' about the best way forward. I wouldn't just leave the village ( and cat) without sorting things out properly.

This happened with one of our cats - after a few of months of her spending more and more time away from our house we tracked down where she had been spending her time and asked the couple to either stop letting her in and feeding her, or to officially take on ownership. They decided they wanted to take her on as their own. I don’t think you can force a cat once they’re made up their mind.

OP use a paper collar or something to find out where she is. Someone has probably unofficially adopted her. If they are happy to make it official
then leave her.