I am hoping the folks here can help with a problem we have. A very thin little cat started coming to our door over Christmas. She is very very thin and has a limp (it looks as if her leg has been broken at some point and just left to set crooked). She was so hungry we fed her (we have 2 huge, fat spoilt cats of our own).

She went away and then came back over this weekend. She is out in all that freezing cold and was crying outside our door at 2 in the morning. Since Friday she has slept in our kitchen and, apart from going out once or twice then coming straight back, she hasn't budged.

We were planning to take her to the vets tomorrow and have her looked at but I spoke to my neighbour today and apparently she has an owner! Someone a few streets away. She left that house and 'moved in' with an old couple or so I was told. It never entered my head she would be owned. She is in a pitiful state.

What should I do? To make it worse she is deaf. I always thought deaf cats were never allowed out. I am so upset.

Sorry for long post.

Worm her and let her owners know where she is...they may not know. As for her being thin, she may just be thin...I've had a couple of cats in the past (mother and then daughter) who were extremely thin but not due to lack of food or care, they were just thin as some people are just thin.

Thank you. I am going to try to find out where she lives exactly rather than just 'a few streets away'. To be honest though it's not just the being thin, her ears are black inside and her eyes all runny. She also seems to have trouble breathing. Maybe I am just being silly and we shouldn't be feeding her but she has eaten 3 and a half tins of cat food since Friday night. Wolfed them down.

I think also that I don't think she should be outside at all. She can't hear cars etc.

Taking her to the vets may give a clue to the owner, if the poor thing is microchipped. She may not be a neglect case but actually lost during the house move. She could've escaped and being deaf not able to respond to calls. You may be able to reunite her.

The other option is to take her in (if you can afford to?) and try to track the owners down and see what they say. It's hard to make an assessment on a good owner so maybe a call to the RSCPA or your vet can give you some advice?

I am just glad that the little thing found you, you must be a little silver lining on her dark cloud right now Let us know how you get on.

Oh and keep her seperate from your two cats until you're sure she's a clean bill of health in case she has anything infectious.

Thank you. I will keep you posted. It just breaks my heart to look at her. All she has done the last few days is sleep and eat. Though thinking about it that is really all my two spoilt cats do

I am keeping them apart. She is in the kitchen and they are in the rest of the house though they aren't happy and are hissing through the door at her but as she is deaf as a post she is oblivious!

I will keep the appointment at the vets and see if she is chipped. She can't reach the right side of her face to wash it with her leg being lame and it is obvious no one has cleaned that ear for her in months. The other one isn't so bad as she can get to that (though it is still yucky). Sorry to go on. Neglect is just as bad as cruelty really.

Try find the owners & have a word with them. I would be very very careful about feeding her- you don't know what health problems she may have & while you are thinking you are doing her a favour you could actually be making it worse if she has any allergies etc.
I know it may seem like she is neglected but she may be perfectly well looked after & it may just be that her health has declined & she may just be a thin cat.

Sorry to say this, it's just because I know one of our cats was very thin due to old age & one of the neighbours kept feeding her despite us telling her we owned her! Along with a friend whose cat got seriously ill after getting fed by neighbours go had no idea about his allergies etc.
So please be careful feeding other cats.

I would speak to the owners if you can find out who they are.
Before you give her a new home or keep feeding her etv, just to find out all the facts first.

Let us know what happens OP.

That is a good point. I will try to find the owners of course, if one of mine got lost we would be distraught. We tried not letting her in the house though and she just cried and cried. It was early hours of the morning and icy and raining.

I will report back with what the vet says.

Sorry I was worried I came across like I was having a go, I just worry sometimes that feeding random cats can do more harm
than good so be careful
I completely feel for you in this situation tho, I hate seeing cats looking neglected & out in the cold!!
Keep us informed! Hope it's just a case of being an old cat & not that it's being neglected! X

Thankyou for caring. If her leg has been broken in the past it would have taken at least 4wks too get too that stage. If she has owners my concern they are not caring for her at all. To let a cat go out in that state is so wrong. Please let us know how she gets on. I would have done the same as well.

She probably has ear mites. Don't let her anywhere near your other cats with those as they're highly transmissible, but quite easy to get rid of.

http://www.cat-lovers-only.com/ear-mites-in-cats.html

http://www.google.com.br/search?q=ea...FNLZtgfWgvnkAQ

I will post and say what the vet tells us. She is fast asleep now on a blanket on the kitchen chair. She is a sweet little thing.


Yuck! Nasty things. Our two can't get into the kitchen and she isn't allowed out so no chance of meeting and I am washing my hands ALL the time! They are such cowards though that they have decamped to the bedroom and are huddled up in the huff.

ok. Update as promised. I asked around this morning and found out where her owner lives. I went to the house but he was out. Rightly or wrongly we still kept the vet appointment and were told that she is anaemic, dehydrated, lame, has fleas and ear mites, a heart condition and suspected thyroid problems. She is also malnourished. But as we are not her owners the vet can't treat her.

We were told we have to try and either persuade her owner to get treatment for her, hand her over to us so we can get treatment or, failing that, we have to report him to the RSPCA.

I am so upset. Have come home and cried. We went to the house again but still no reply so left a note to say she is at our house and could he ring us.

How terrible. I can't believe they won't let you get her treated. Poor little thing. If you don't hear anything by tomorrow, I would call the RSPCA. She is lucky to have found you. Hope you are able to get her sorted out soon.

If I were you I would be upset and furious. Whatever the situation the poor cat is obviously very poorly and I would have thought it the vet's job to treat it.

Why consider the owner when the poor thing is obviously neglected.

I stupidly keep thinking I want to give the man a chance. The ideal situation is that he doesn't want her and gives her to us (we would even pay him). Getting the RSPCA involved seems like us being underhand. I know it's daft!


I am furious actually. We have talked (my husband and me) and he says we should go to another vet and just say she is a stray with no owner and we have taken her in. Apparently if a cat is owned then vets can be prosecuted if they treat it without permission.

She is asleep in the nice warm kitchen on her blanket. She starts to purr when we go near her now. She is lovely. It will break my heart if we have to give her back to the man.

I would Frontline her for the fleas, clean her ears with a little cooking oil on cotton wool (but that doesn't cure earmites which can spread from cat to cat), feed her and contact the RSPCA. Her owners aren't feeding her properly and aren't giving her necessary vetinary care both of which are now illegal under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Since she isn't chipped, proving ownership is that little bit harder for them.

Or, in this case because she's so neglected, I might be very naughty given I know where she lives and hand her in to the local Cats Protection - that is unless your vet does work for them.

That's awful, I would still give the owner the chance to explain though. Maybe I'm a bit too nice but I always like to think there is a reason why she might be like that - maybe he s only just got her himself or something..
Just as I know my housemate has recently rehomed a cat who was mistreated & if she were out on the streets you would automatically think she was mistreated as she is a bag of bones & looks awfully bedraggled, she has lots of health problems tho like thyroid issues etc. but she s perfectly happy in our home now she s been here, but it would look like she was a stray if she were out wandering the streets.

^ that's the only reason I would give the owner a chance to explain .

I do feel sorry for the poor cat though

Let us know if the owner gets in contact.

I forgot to add that she only has 6 teeth. And they are rotted. The man has had her for some time apparently. Maybe he isn't well, or is having problems and just can't care for her. We are more than willing to be her new family.

I feel stupid for being so upset.

oh OP, I feel so sorry for you, your little waif and stray kitty sounds like a real sweetheart. I would be heartbroken too

I'd be inclined to take her to a different Vet and just neglect to mention that you know where she's from - tell the Vet the truth - she showed up on your doorstep and she's obviously been neglected and you want to keep her.

I think its so lovely that you and your husband are willing to take her on and it sounds like she really needs a loving home.

Keep us posted please?

Umm, I think I might agree with your husband. Did the vet give any indication if any of her problems needed really urgent attention? I know that each can be really bad in a cat with poor health, but if something needed urgent attention, I'd be off to another practice.

Hope you hear something back from the man, and it's good news.

Anaemic, lame, dehydrated, fleas, ear mites.

These are all results of neglect, he shouldn't be allowed to have her back.

Thank you everyone for replying. It has calmed me down a little. We have decided to give man until tomorrow teatime (as we are at work tomorrow) then if there is no response take her to another vet and say she is a stray. At least then she will be getting some treatment. If we get into trouble then so be it.

My husband has taken photos of her as proof that she is in a bad state and if I work out how to (I am not great at that stuff) I will post a couple. He says it will be proof that she was neglected if there is any come back in the future. I never think of that sort of thing.

Good call, just reading down the thread I was going to say to take her to another vet. It doesn't matter what the law is, the fact is that she needs treatment to make her better and she needs proper care.

Without knowing her owner's circumstances, it's unfair to comment on them. They might have mental problems or something which have led to her neglect. But the fact stands that she has been severely neglected. If I were you and had the resources I might go one step further and get her chipped as your own and adopt her when she's healed up, then keep her as an indoor cat (with her being deaf) with supervised outings to the garden or something.

If the guy does come looking for her and has no excuse for the condition she's in, just say she ran away and you don't know where she is.

Priority No.1 = poorly puss, and on the balance of current evidence, she's better off staying with you.

Just wondering if you have any updates. Have you managed to get her treated or found the owner?