Neighbour fed my cat and took him to the vet

[Tigeresslearns]

I know I'm talking to the sensible here.
I've recently had to have my lovely boy pts. He was a roaming rascal that had to have his tail removed previously. He was also a lazy groomer so needed me to bath him on occasion too - not fun for him or me! But he was ours and was loved.

Anyway, I got a text a couple of weeks ago from a neighbour, who even after repeated telling by me to NOT feed him, had done so for a couple of years. He spent some time sat in her garden enjoying the sun. She knew I was his owner. She had my contact number and knows where I live.

She'd decided to take him to a vet as he had been unwell in her garden for 24 hours. She hadn't contacted me before this at all to tell me as I would of gone straight there to get him.

I called the vets, they'd done bloods and he was in kidney failure so I made the sad decision to pts. I couldn't get there before they would close for the day so I wasn't even there to give him strokes and love.

Adding to this, at the weekend I came across a fb post from the vets that they'd posted at the time, stating they had him and to call them as he was unwell. Comments underneath included some very strange or hurtful comments, including someone sharing my address and that I had 'abandoned' him. Thankfully the vets removed the post straight away when I called them.

Who the hell does this?

Things I've learnt:

Check your cat's chip is registered - my boy had been chipped years ago but for some reason the vet I'd used hadn't completed the registration or told me I had to complete the registration. It's been a pain but I've now got my other cats registered to me so it doesn't happen again.

Do not feed cats that don't belong to you. There are so many other means to care for a cat who you think it lost/abandoned/unwell. Posting on local fb groups get cats reunited really quickly usually. Or if you know the owner, tell them their cat is at yours. Any responsible cat owner would appreciate that.

So she did call you. You said in your OP that she didn’t call you and now you’re saying she did.

She was obviously extremely worried about your cat and it seems rightly so.

Her first instinct was to get your cat professional help which is lovely and once she had done that she called you.

The main point is that she had your cats best interest at heart.

I’m sorry for your loss.

Microchips often fail. Ive had three fail now so I get them checked regularly.

That's whats strange - I called the vets I had him chipped at after speaking to the chip company - they hadn't done something their end as all my details were logged with the chip, just not as a completed registration. I didn't have the chip number or any other paperwork. I do now thankfully and now know its me that needs to complete the registration. That was totally on me.

So you couldn’t have taken the cat to the vet when she did anyway because you were out, maybe she could have called first but it wouldn’t have made a difference to the outcome and your cat was clearly massively suffering if it needed to be immediately put to sleep

Sorry for your loss.

I don’t understand the vet posting on Facebook looking for the owner when, irrespective of if the chip was registered or not, the person who brought the cat in will have said they know the owner and were planning to call them?

I would of not gone out if my cat was unwell and needed to go to the vets. If she'd of called me when she'd found him, I would of gone and got him and taken him to the vets!

OP i have cats of my own and there is a cat from the next street who comes to me for his meals. His owner is fully aware and jokes he gets better fed at mine. I have a little house in the front garden for him and as his owner works long hours in a yard, is grateful someone is looking out for him. He gets no access inside or to the back garden. She has asked me if I want him but I have 6 of my own and she understands. If he was poorly I'd contact her in the first instance. Not all of us who feed a cat other than their own are crazy but it has to be done with full disclosure with their rightful owner and agreements and boundaries met.

Thank you.

I don't either, unless she didn't tell them? I'll never know.

Well you could ask them

Microchipping your pet without filling in your address details doesn't make you look like an engaged owner. Surely if you have taken the cat to the vet over the years they would have your up to date address and microchip details for the cat? First thing I did when I registered my cats with a vet was that they scanned the chip and made sure the address which came up was accurate.

@Youtookyourtime..by the same token why didn't the neighbour provide the vets with the owner's phone number?

Exactly. Surely vet would contact the owner to get their permission for the blood tests etc. Very unusual for a vet to cover these costs. Wouldn't the vet have asked the neighbour whose cat it is?

Just seems so odd.

You said she took the cat to the vets late morning and then text you at 10.24 when you were 2 hours away on a day out. It very much reads like you were out already when she took the cat to the vets.

My cat hasn't ever been scanned again since it was done. I didn't realise this is standard practice. Maybe I need to change vets.

Did you have any idea your cat was unwell.
Did the the neighbour contact you to say she had taken the cat to the vet?
Who did let you know the cat was unwell and at the vet?
Why were you unable to get to the vets when you were informed your cat was unwell?
Were you worried you cat had been missing for 24 hrs,did you think to contact this neighbour when your cat was missing ?

This happened to my parents. Their neighbour started interfering with their cat, feeding him, keeping them in their house etc. Even phone the SSPCA about them. (who checked on the cat and confirmed that my parents were not neglecting him).

It turned out the neighbour had declining mental health.

But its awful when this happens.

Have you not read any of OPs posts at all?

You must have known that your cat was becoming poorly but you were not concerned that he had been awol for over 24 hours. You went off for a day out without checking where your poorly cat was and not knowing if it had eaten or drank in the previous 24 hours.
You should be very thankful to the neighbour who had the nous to know he was ill and got him straight to a vet.
You can’t blame another person for an act of kindness to a sick animal.

Every annual check up with our dog included a scan for his chip (as they can go wondering around the body). I also assumed they checked the details to ours on record

This doesn't make any sense. I have a cat with CKD, and unless it's poisoning, it develops over years. Most cats, even if very poorly with can be stabilised for a while with sub curs/IV, and so only if it was extreme would your cat need to be put down in your absence. If it was that extreme, either:

1. you'd been ignoring increasing (and obvious) symptoms for the last year or two, and more recently a very noticeably unwell cat, or

2. it was poisoning, which if suspected is often treated aggressively as sometimes cats can recover from this, in a way they can't from CKD.

It also makes no sense as to why the vets would make an appeal on FB (which people had time to respond to) if you phoned the vets very quickly. It's also concerning that you didn't notice your cat was missing.

More than anything though, I'm concerned that instead of being upset about cat and worried that you'd failed him/her, you are angry at your neighbour for overstepping.

I'm so sorry you lost your cat in these circumstances. I'm guessing there was a good reason you couldn't you go straight to the vet's when she called you. I think you're really upset & grieving and this is all getting muddled - there isn't anyone to blame here. Your cat got sick, a neighbour took them to the vet, you spoke to the vet and agreed PTS but couldn't get there in time. It's sad but really, being upset with anyone is a waste of energy as the outcome was inevitable. The microchip thing is a mistake you made years ago - it's never the vet that's responsible for setting up the address. You buy the product (microchip) and then it's your account and all on you - they just do the procedure to insert it. And anyway, it wouldn't have changed things would it? If you knew mid-morning and couldn't get there before 5pm then you must have been some distance away.