Neighbour enticing my cat away...again!
The Wizard
Posts: 11,071 Forum Member
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Two years ago approx an old woman who lives a few doors down started to encourage one of my cats to her house. We had a big fight over it but it was too late and the cat had already made it's mind up where it was better off. In the end I had no option but to let her go as I'd clearly lost her to this vile witch of a woman and every time I brought her back she would keep going back to thus woman's house which would feed her all sorts of unhealthy crap. I was so angry and sad but she just decided that was where she wanted to be. Hardly surprising when the woman was buying her rich treats and giving her cooked chicken on the bone and lumps of steak.
A few weeks ago my other remaining cat went missing for 2 days and I eventually found her after much searching up by our local park. It so not like her to wander off. The next thing this woman walks past and tells me how the cat she lured away from me 2 years ago, she's just had put down because she basically couldn't afford to look after her and she needed an operation on her stomach after the crap shed been giving her. Hmmmm strange coincidence that one cat gets put down and now my other one is going missing. I was SO furious! Not just with her but with the irresponsible vet who allowed her to do this to a treatable animal.
Anyway last week I noticed my one remaining cat sitting up by her house. Weird because she never wanders off away from our house. A few days later it seems this horrible old woman is back up to her old tricks again. I was walking back towards my house when I clearly saw her shouting "come on then. come on!" to my cat just like she did with my last one. I walked up to confront her but the minute she saw me she said to my cat, "get away don't follow me". This is exactly what she did with my last one pretending she's not enticing her back when that's precisely what she's doing.
I went absolutely ballistic with her and threatened that this time I'd get the police involved. I said, "You've had the nerve to entice away one of my cats which you've since had destroyed and now you want my other one!" I've rang the RSPCA and they don't want to know and said the only thing I can do is if she takes the cat into her house is call the police as it's theft but quite honestly I can't see them getting involved let alone being able to do much.
Has anyone got any ideas how I can approach this?
A few weeks ago my other remaining cat went missing for 2 days and I eventually found her after much searching up by our local park. It so not like her to wander off. The next thing this woman walks past and tells me how the cat she lured away from me 2 years ago, she's just had put down because she basically couldn't afford to look after her and she needed an operation on her stomach after the crap shed been giving her. Hmmmm strange coincidence that one cat gets put down and now my other one is going missing. I was SO furious! Not just with her but with the irresponsible vet who allowed her to do this to a treatable animal.
Anyway last week I noticed my one remaining cat sitting up by her house. Weird because she never wanders off away from our house. A few days later it seems this horrible old woman is back up to her old tricks again. I was walking back towards my house when I clearly saw her shouting "come on then. come on!" to my cat just like she did with my last one. I walked up to confront her but the minute she saw me she said to my cat, "get away don't follow me". This is exactly what she did with my last one pretending she's not enticing her back when that's precisely what she's doing.
I went absolutely ballistic with her and threatened that this time I'd get the police involved. I said, "You've had the nerve to entice away one of my cats which you've since had destroyed and now you want my other one!" I've rang the RSPCA and they don't want to know and said the only thing I can do is if she takes the cat into her house is call the police as it's theft but quite honestly I can't see them getting involved let alone being able to do much.
Has anyone got any ideas how I can approach this?
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Comments
eta: like what frisky said ;-)
I've fed her today and she's been in but now she's nowhere to be seen. I can't go round someones house snooping but I'm positive she's round there now. I'm SO fuming with anger that anyone could do such a thing. Trouble is everyone round here bar my next door neighbour who is on my side thinks she's a sweet old lady so I'm in danger of being made out to be the bad guy in all of this.
ETA. The old woman. Not your cat.
They don't legally belong to anyone really, so there isn't much you can do about it otherwise.
I hope you can resolve this situation, and hopefully your kitty will see beyond the tasty treats and come back to its real home. *sending virtual hugs*
They do legally belong to people.
Are you confusing ownership with responsibility for their actions? Owners are not responsible for the actions of their cats in the same way dog owners are, but they are 'owners' none the less - responsible for the cat's welfare and able to be prosecuted if they fail to care for the cat. They can also report the cat as stolen same as with a dog.
The only exception to the responsible rule would be if the owner knew a cat to be particularly vicious and failed to take steps to protect visitors to the house then they would be liable under civil (though not criminal) law.
Here's a link from the daily Telegraph explaining felines and the law: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/9968640/How-the-law-views-cats.html
I have considered making her a house cat but it seems highly unfair having to keep her couped up in a small 2 bedroomed bungalow all day with no fresh air when she's always been used to going outside and no doubt it may make her feel trapped. I will give it consideration though.
If I remember right I think I tried to do that with my last one and the minute I went out she would run out and then I'd struggle to get her back because she knew once she was in shed never get out again. That's the trouble when cats have been used to being outside.
Oh, and you're wrong. She's chipped and registered to me therefore my property. As far as I'm concerned it's theft even if she didn't actually pick her up and take her back to her house it's still akin to kidnapping. What if this was a child she was doing this to?
Most of my cats have been very friendly but I'm sure no one shouting "come on then" would have had a chance of getting them into their home.
They must prefer it there, or they would not go and would never stay for good.
My sister shared her cat for years with another lady up the road. neither of them knew it though
They may not 'prefer' it there, as such, it's just it sounds like this woman is enticing them with really rich food. If you had the choice between a fish finger and a nice steak of tuna, which would you go for? (Not implying that the OP doesn't feed her cat good stuff or anything!) - Cats are opportunists, and will follow their belly.
What's more unusual is firstly my youngest cat and now this one. The eldest one never went there prior to her having my other one put down then just weeks later it's all happening again. Coincidence? I don't think so. Surely if my cat was bothering her then why start now? It's because she's obviously been enticed back there and possibly held in against her will until she just accepted that's where she lived. I don't honestly know tbh but I've seen her with my own eyes following her up the road like the bleeding Pied Piper. Cats aren't loyal but it doesn't help when people like her keep enticing them with unhealthy treats.
It's like someone trying to lure a child away with sweets and ice cream. If this was a child it would be called kidnapping.
Yes and also cats don't tend to hang about someones back door (and continue to keep going back) if there's nothing there for them. The reason she will be going there is because she knows she's gonna get an all you can eat buffet.
For this reason people should never attempt to feed other people's cats. They are someone else's responsibility and for all anyone else knows they may have to be on a strict diet and certain foods may end up killing them. Some people are such idiots.
It starts off with her enticing her back. Next week she's in the kitchen. Week later she's in her lounge having a stroke on the sofa and next she's on the bed and not coming home at night and before you know it she no longer feels like this is her home anymore and I may as well say goodbye to her for good. For having my other cat put down all because she had a tummy problem is absolutely disgusting. I'm disgusted with her and more so the vet that allowed her to make that decision. She should never be allowed to keep cats let alone ones that don't belong to her.
I agree and think it should be against the law to feed other peoples pets. It happened to one of my cats over the summer and she ended up being put down due to the neighbours as well. Yes she was microchipped but it's a long story which I won't go into.
I would tell the old b... lady that your cat is on medication which needs to be taken with food and whilst the cat is with her and being fed by her the cat won't get it's medication. Tell her the medication is vital or the cat will die.
A couple of years ago we had very odd run in with a neighbour. One of our cats went (completely out of character) missing for a couple of days, and one morning another neighbour knocked on our door and said they knew where our cat was. They had seen him in the window of the house next door to them, and had actually taken a picture just so we could check it was him.
It was definitely our cat. We knocked on the door of the house, who was absolutely 100% sure there was no cat in his house. At this point I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, as the cat might have found a warm place to sleep or hide or simply might have found a way out.
The following day the neighbour again reported she had seen him in the window, and again the guy denied all knowledge. At this point I was getting skeptical, as there was no way that, if our cat which had been trapped in a house for 2-3 days, he would not have been making noise. So we called the police, who, to their credit, came out in about 30 minutes. When they came round the guy was out, but the cat appeared on the window sill and we managed to open a small window and get him out. The police later spoke to him and he was still insistent he had no idea the cat was in the house. We didn't (and couldn't) take it further but to this day I don't believe he didn't know the cat was there and was trying to steal him. The other thing to note is that, although our cats are moggies through and through, they look like young purebred Bengals and so some people do assume they are expensive pedigree cats which might give someone motive to nick them.
We've moved since then, thankfully, but it was a weird one.
Plus the cat may see it as punishment, especially if they are so used to coming and going as they please. So I would only really advise the OP go down this route if there is absolutely nothing else that can be done.
How can ANY vet allow someone to make that decision on a treatable animal? I wish I knew which vets had agreed this as I would go down and give them hell about it. I was absolutely livid when I found out and our neighbour (who isn't speaking to her anymore) even asked her why she hadn't considered the PDSA or even brought her back to me so I could have seen to her myself.
And now not content with destroying one animal's life she wants to start again on my other one.
Also just to add. My remaining cat has been acting strange for the last couple of weeks. She's been a bit off her food which could be due to being fed elsewhere but she's also taken to lying on the front lawn which is really odd because she always likes to sleep in the house either in the washing basket or on the sofa or on her bed etc but she hasn't done this for a while now. I may take her to the vets to have her checked over as I have no idea what this wicked old woman has been giving her.
This is precisely what happened last time with my other cat when this woman was enticing her away. I decided to lock her in but she went wild and felt trapped and was clawing the walls and doors to get out. The second I opened the door to go out she was straight between my legs and you wouldn't see her for days. It made matters worse because she felt imprisoned like I was punishing her so no wonder she didn't want to come back.
I'd agree with this. We're on the other side of your problem - a neighbour's cat has decided he wants to live with us, we were unable to open the patio doors over the summer because he'd make himself at home if we did (OH and Mini Deb are both allergic, so we really don't want him in the house!) Repeated soakings wouldn't make him go away. He even sat miaowing at our door during a thunderstorm!
We haven't seen him now for a couple of weeks, so either she's keeping him indoors (at last) or he's died.
As Oscar Wilde might have said "To lose one cat may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two (or more?) looks like carelessness"
This would appear to be the third cat that has bailed on you in 5 years. You write in the OP that 2 years ago that the same woman enticed another moggy from your home.
In this thread you started 5 years ago in 2009 yet another cat upped sticks and moved down the road.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1170155
Was this to live with the woman you complain of today or a different neighbour?
Either way a pattern seems to be forming which makes me waiver towards sympathy for the cat(s).
P.S. Do you call ALL your cats Tilly?