OP has had lots of good advice if she wants to focus on a couple of negative comments that's up to her


I had a cat that went missing years ago, I put posters everywhere, cards in shops and nothing for weeks , then someone rung me and said a lady up the road had got a new cat that fitted the description of my cat to a tee.

I went round there knocked on the door, door opened a tiny bit and a eye poked round and a voice asked "Yes"? At the bottom of the door was cats paws franticly trying to pull the door open and meowing loud enough to make you think it was being killed.

I said I believe you have found my cat , she said oh is it yours ive been trying to shoo it out the door but it wont go
, the cat was desperate to get out that house but she was convincing herself that it was happy where it was.

My cat hated staying in for longer than a few hours in the summer, so the poor thing had been locked away for weeks because the women wanted to keep her.. Now if the women had known that I was knocking to ask about the cat, then I fully believe she would have shut it in the kitchen or somewhere and told me she hadn't got a cat

Im not saying the OP is like that but forgive me if I ask a few questions to make sure the OP isnt enticing the cat to stay.


I firmly believe if people don't want to lose a loved pet then they should not let them out, they could be run over, stolen for vivisection, or bait for fighting dogs, taken for a pet, lost, made into a Gonk, poisoned by a irate neighbour

I think if you let your cat roam then you cannot complain or moan if any of those things happen , if you really cared you would keep them in. Now thats my opinion and I know most cat owners don't agree. But thats fine they dont have to do what I think.

That's obviously not the case here though is it Kizzie?... its my gut feeling the Puss is genuinely lost, perhaps slept in a van that travelled a long distance or left home due to neglect or abuse (not chipped for a start) its all guesswork but the cat is obviously in no hurry to go home and that's probably because it cant.


I know where you are coming from and you obviously care about cats a lot, same as me, but some Cats are free spirits and just live for the outdoors ... I'm from a family of cat lovers, only owned two myself though (or they owned me ) Jonsey who was a rescue cat lived with me for 16 and a half years before cancer got the best of her, hardest day of my life was taking her to the vets that final day, she was gorgeous and so affectionate ... left it a year and took on another cat, Ritchie, he's such a character ... before his operation and chipping, he was always wanting out, but after that he prefers to stay in most times and I let him out maybe once a week in the wee small hours as both my immediate neighbours are ignorant pigs and threaten violence to him just for passing through their precious gardens .. if anyone hurt my cat I don't know what I'd do to those that did it, but I'd do time if I caught the person responsible ... I don't know why we cant all live and let live?

But I digress

Lets not be too hard on Icelady here, she's trying to do something good.

Ive already said I don't "think" OP is like that.

Do you know the OP? if not how do you know? how can you speak for someone you dont know?


Dogs also like to roam free but we ended that little game for them didnt we.

Anyway as ive said, if the cat comes back with the able still on I would keep it.

By the way what did the vet say?

No I don't know the OP, all I have is the information that's in this thread, you have come to one conclusion and I've offered other possibility's ... this thread took an ugly turn and that's all I'm objecting to ... I know you will want to have something to say about this, so go ahead, then can we please get this thread back on topic, its turning out to be about us, not the OP or the poor cat in the middle.

Cheers.

I have been on topic

ive said to keep it if it comes back with the note still on and I ask what did the vet said

Oscar vanished and was never found when I had a terminally ill cat and two new kittens.

Soory vanished, the woman where he turned up rung the phone number on his collar.

Sparky kept going in one particular house as she liked to play with their grandchildren and the man. Again phone number on her collar to the rescue.

Billy got locked in a neighbours twice, I had a key to their house and they knew he was mine so no problem.

Errol vanished when a 4-month old kitten. It transpired that the people who worked in the light industrial unit over the road decided he was lost and also ignored the RSPCA advice to let him be - he was all of 20 yards from my front door. For some reason his chip didn't read where they say they took him, my own vet had no problem reading it after I collected him. They were a bit surprised at how much he ate.

Rufus vanished a few months after I moved here and turned up of his own accord 10 days later, very very pleased to be home but not dirty or hungry at all.

And then there were these people feeding him, his chip got him back.

That's over 20 years so I'd say no, not often, and now I have a cat-proof back garden so hopefully it will never happen again.

Sorry I think you missed my attempt of a bit of a joke, you're origional post said you had lost cars but after reading your last post I wish I hadnt made a joke of it now.

Icelady, at end of the day it's your call. I thought to myself, if the owner did remove that tag you placed, why didn't they remove the string?? You said the string was still attached, if i were the owner i would have removed both tag and string and then contacted you. You said the cat didn't come for a day or so.....you can't assume it's cause it's an owned cat. My aunite adopted a cat after it constantly kept coming back to her, it looked it good condition and well looked after. After about a month had passed, after many leaflets, posters and messages...no one came forward and now 5yrs later that cat is now hers.

I myself couldn't turn it away if he kept coming back. There's obviously a reason why the cat keeps coming to you, it feels safe and wanted.I'd still feed it and so forth, but continue to see if an owner comes forward. Cats are not normally thin unless they are a petite cat in which case the cat gives the impression of looking thin...or the cat is a stray and has no one to look after him. If you don't want to fully adopt the cat, allow him in just one part of your room during day and night. At the moment your looking out for the cat like any good animal lover would, but if you turn it away there's a chance you could be turning away a homeless cat.

Good advice mate.

My gut instinct is this poor Puss is a lost soul, not one of the many character cats looking for a second or third home ... I think its lost its original home or cant/wont go back to it ... too many folk take on a kitten or a cat and don't realise its for life, then don't feed it or give it the attention it needs ... cats are really so easy to keep because they are so independent, but some Humans cant even be bothered after the initial cute kitten factor has worn off ... at the end of the day Puss would have been chipped if it was cared for, notices of a missing cat would have been put up around the immediate area, this has not happened.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, with the information we have here, I'd take the cat in in a heartbeat ... its obviously not a feral cat (yet) and once knew a home but for one reason or another is not an option any-more ... but that's me ... I've read Icelady has a husband and kids and I think a dog too, that all has to be factored in ... cats and dogs do co-exist though, even newly bought in ones.

But at the very least, the Cats Protection are an option ... or if Icelady lives near me, I'd give the puss a home for life, chip him/her and give it the life of luxury for the rest of its days.

Have to disagree with this. A cat decided to adopt me, I would even go as far to say it stalked me. Outside my door every morning and night. I didnt speak in a kind voice, quite the opposite to be honest, anyway that pesky cat kept coming back. He would charge at the door the minute it opened and muscle his way into the kitchen. I must add that cats scare me to death, I'm a dog person and cant read cats at all so the fear rolls off me.

I ended up loving that cat, he was not a stray just a chancer who loved sitting on a fluffy blanket next to my radiator.

Good for you, pleased to hear about this, very heart warming.

Or the cat is ill. An overactive throid is very common in cats, cats with it are usually ravenously hungry but still thin with a poor coat, and there are other medical reasons for a cat getting thin even when it has plenty to eat.

This is why I have an issue with 'part adoption'. Either it's your cat, you do everything including paying vets bills should they develop a chronic condition, need dental work, have an accident or whatever, or you don't let it in your house, you don't feed it.

Rufus was horrendously thin by the time we got a handle on why he was so thin and a big part of this was because he was spending time with people who willing to feed him but not pay vet bills. The last time I collected him he had been in a big fight and had a nasty infected claw rake across his chest.

So for me, you do it all or none of it. Either take him (or her) in, get him or her chipped, vaccinated, wormed, deflead, and continue to do all those things, or you leave him or her outside. Of course you keep an eye on him or her, but once the cat has it's feed under the table you should in my view be prepared to do everything.

Please, put a secure note on it's collar and see what happens.

Thats true. I see what you mean totally, when adopting a cat it's all or nothing. But at the moment this cat is either homeless or owned. And that's why really icelady won't adopt 100% just yet, nor will she turn it away. That's why i said look after the cat letting him into just one room for now, but at same time look for an owner via leaflets, posters or on notice boards. I'd give it a month, if no owner comes forward then if i were icelady i'd take the cat in a heartbeat. The cat seems fine with the dog so that wouldn't be a future problem. If hubby isn't keen then just allow the cat into a couple of rooms.

The cat is almost certainly not ill. But if it is, a month could be the last thing it needs.

Thats true. But since icelady is yet to come the owner of the cat, it's not her resposibility. BUT....since the cat seems to come to her and no one else...then if i were her i'd take him to vets and give him a once over. But really what else can she do...

I think that icelady should either fully adopt the cat - neutering if necessary, vaccinations, deflea, deworm etc. - or leave well alone.

If she chooses full adoption, she needs to be prepared for the day that may well never come, when the original owners turn up.

Had I found the people who were feeding my cat were taking his welfare seriously I would have accepted that he had made a choice albeit one that I didn't like. Since they only seemed interested in having him around as a bit of an ornament I took steps to get him back for good, although it wasn't what he wanted. As it turns out he would have died back in april (or thereabouts) without my intervention.

In my view being owned by a cat is like being pregnant - you are or you are not. There isn't a half-measure.

Yes, but how can you adopt fully or leave well alone if she doesn't know it the cat is owned or homeless. At this time you cannot simply take the cat as your own unless you've done all the things needed too, such as posters, leaflets and notices on message boards. If she leaves the cat alone and he is homeless this cat then has no one. If he is owned then leaving the cat alone is no bad thing if the owners are good for the cat. Either way until enough time has passed i don't think it's wise to adopt yet nor ignore the cat. Right now, she can look after as in feed it and company it but thats as far as icelady can go until she knows if he is owned or not!!

Whatever she does it's always possible some owners will turn up at some point in time. However she's had it scanned for a chip (which it doesn't have), she's put up some posters, if she has informed the local and not so local cat rescues then maybe that's enough.

If the people who thought my cat was a stray had taken the trouble to get him scanned in the first place I would have been saved a huge amount of worry.

So you'd give it what....a week to see if an owner comes forward?? That's not enough i don't think, at least 2week and in the meantime care for the cat til she decides to keep it as her own or take it to a shelter.

Caring for the cat encourages it to hang around where she lives - if she puts another note on it's collar (and I think she should) the last thing she wants is it staying with her. It needs to go back home so the real owners can see the note, read it and ring her.

If it does then so be it cause if the cat is homeless then at least he has found a home. But someone or somehow the tag icelady put on the cat was taken off, yet the string was still attached to the collar. Some cats do have '2nd homes' but why else would the cat go to her.....reason being maybe he has no one...???!!!

If it was a thin card or paper tag I can imagine it coming off quite easily as the cat goes about it's normal business.

Cats have great curiosity, that doesn't mean they need a new home.

Just updating the thread.

Although the cat is still hanging around it isnt doing so as much as it was earlier in the week.

The second message I tied to his collar has also gone, bit the string I attached it to is shorter than I origionally put on and looks like it has been cut off.

I am going to assume the cat has a home and the owner has chosen not to contact me for some reason.

I have spoken to the children and asked them to ignore the cat, whether this is the right or wrong thing to do, I don't know but its seems the best thing to do for the cat so as not to encourage it.

Thank you for all the advice and the different points of view it has been very insightful.

Yeh but why wouldn't the owner take the string off aswell. I wouldn't want my cat running around with some string attached, that's what i find really strange here. I hope he does have a home cause if he hasn't not only will you ignore it now...this cat may starve. Boy little thing

Seriously What a thing to say. Icelady has done her best for this cat and I dont think loading blame on her shoulders is the way forward.

Maybe its not what you mean but the way its written is full of blame and an attempt to make her feel guilty. Not very nice.