Made a mistake and don’t want a cat!

[DontWantACat]

About a month ago, a young cat turned up in my garden (live rural, lots of farms, horses/livery places, therefore always lots of cats), very skinny and obviously been in some difficulty as its neck was missing loads of hair, had healing cuts on it. Definitely not someone’s pet. I put out water and food for it, it wasn’t in great shape and while I’m really not a cat person, I couldn’t see an animal in difficulty without trying to help. Fed it for a week or so and it hung around, got its strength back.

Went on holiday for 10 days and thought it would break the cycle and the cat would move on again. Nope. The minute I got home it was there. Had lost weight again so I fed it again. And I’ve now been feeding it for 2 weeks.

It’s become completely obsessed with me. If it sees me in the kitchen it’s staring in the window/door, it’s sleeping outside the door every night, if I walk outside it’s walking around my feet. If it sit outside it’s rubbing off me and wrapping its tail round me. Or talking to me and doing the blinky eye thing.

But I don’t want a cat! I lost my last 2 pets about 6 weeks ago and I don’t want the responsibility again for a while. I’m also not really gone on cats, and definitely don’t want one in my house. I also don’t want to be responsible for vet bills and such.

I’ve rang the local rescues, they’re full. Shared in groups I’m part of, no takers.

What do I do? Do I stop feeding it? Will it move on?

So the vet offered to take it and get it rehomed, just couldn't give a guarantee it won't be put to sleep. Same as if you managed to get a shelter to take it.
Once you sign it over it becomes theirs to do with how they see fit.
If she becomes pregnant you then have another 4 or 5 cats to rehome and she will be pregnant again within days so this on repeat every 9 weeks. I suspect her shaved side when she first appeared was the result of her being spayed or you would be seeing signs of pregnancy by now.
You can't just stop feeding her.
Cats can very quickly develop a condition called hepatic lipidosis. This can very quickly become life threatening and can develop within just 2 to 4 days without food.
Throwing water over her when she is seeking kindness was incredibly cruel.
Take her back to the vet and let her have a chance of finding a home with someone who will give he the love she deserves.

@SimplySoo if you feel so badly about the OP pouring water on the cat and chasing it out of her house, why don’t you go to Ireland and take the cat?

I know you didn't want another pet and that you're not a cat person. I know that the cat scared the crap out of you last night. I know that it's upsetting when the cat hunts other animals (and "leaves presents" on the doorstep!). I honestly understand all that (and I'm very much a cat person!). But chucking water at an animal that has learned to love and trust you over these weeks/months has made me so upset.

Don't chase her off or chuck water on her, or suddenly stop feeding her. Please please just take the cat to the vet and sign her over to them. Hopefully they can do at least a TNR on her, or have someone foster her or rehome her.

Jesus's tucking christ, you feed the cat, get her to trust you then throw water at her and decide stop feeding her because she catches mice and found her way indoors? Are you a psychopath or something? Didn't you know cats hunt? If you dislike cats that much you should have left her with the vet when you had the chance, even if she ended up being PTS. Better that than being encouraged to trust you then being treated so badly.

@anyolddinosaur get a grip

They said that I can leave her there, but they can’t guarantee what will happen to her and I would have to sign a waiver handing her over for them to take ownership of. They said they’d try and find her a place at a rescue
So why didn't you do that? You wanted rid of the cat, they were offering to take it off your hands. You should have done that when you had the first opportunity. Borrow a carrier from someone who'll lend theirs, catch her in it and take her to the vet's, they'll sort it out for you.

FWIW all hunters hunt, it's how the species has survived evolution. I've seen dogs grabbing and eating small rodents. It's natural for predators, cats and dogs, to catch and eat prey, it's ridiculous to get shocked and angry when it happens. You're already aware of people using small furry animals to use as bait animals, so no idea why you think dogs are saintly in this respect...

That poor cat. This is the most awful thread. Please take her back to the vet or find another rescue. It’s her nature, she is doing nothing wrong. You showed her kindness in a world where she’s had very little and now she thinks she’s wanted. Throwing water and refusing to feed is awful when she thinks it’s her home. You need to positively close the situation you created. She’s a beautiful little cat. I don’t know how you can call her vile. She’s an animal who’s had to survive alone, what was she meant to do?

Bloody hell, wish I'd never started reading this today. My own beloved cat was put to sleep a month ago, so upset still, unable to have another one.

I do have some sympathy for OP though.

The vet said they'd take her, just do that, no need to abandon her starving outside your door!

That poor little cat. Really horrible person.

The kindest thing you could have done is give the cat to the Vets. She will now likely end up pregnant and you will have lots of kittens on your doorstep.

Least give her to the vets. leaving her with no food, no spray is crueller.

Try the cats protection league, they will foster and re home the cat, they won’t put it down

This.

Yes they're horrible little buggers when they hunt things. But you cannot feed and then suddenly not feed (a repeat of the first few weeks, btw)... It's cruel.

And she was sneaking in the house to be close to you, OP.

Just take it to the vet and surrender it. Getting put to sleep is kinder than slowly starving to death.

wow, our vets scan for free! It might also be worth asking local cat rescues or volunteers. Scanners are now cheap and quite a few resacues and rescue volunteers have their own.

Op please contact Garman, she looks like such a lovely cat who's desperate for a loving home. Hopefully you're close enough you can sort something out

Please don’t stop feeding the cat! A home for it will come up in due course. You’re his temporary guardian angel.

Oh, goodness - please let there be a cat-loving Mumsnetter on the island of Ireland who is near enough to take this wee girl in and love her.

Are you not well?

You’d be better off taking the vets offer of having her if you’ve since decided to start abusing the poor animal.

Just deliver the cat back to the vet if you don’t want to care for it anymore. Potentially PTS at the vet would be a better alternative than you withdrawing all care so the cat slowly starves or is attacked by other animals and dies of its wounds.
Seems a strange turn of events for someone who was so caring, even if it was reluctantly.

There are people in Ireland on this thread saying they will take the cat. OP please get in touch with one of them

Do the right thing OP and take the cat back to the vet. Otherwise she will continue to wait for you, starving, for weeks while you chuck water over her, and the weather will get colder and frankly you will be being cruel.

I don't know why you didn't leave her there in the first place.

You should have left the cat with the vets. It would be less traumatised than it is now. Just take it back, today!

OP's logic is some of the weirdest, I have ever had the misfortune to come across. Just take the cat and sign it over to the vet. Job done!

It’s not being dramatic, chucking water over a cat is abuse! As for it killing 2 animals, cats hunt. This cat has no home so it’s only catching food to survive.