I've had enough of the neigbours cat

[Samz5]

Several months ago a cat turned up in my house, I found him eating my cats food, he had a big open sore on his neck and was very scruffy, he was very scared of me too, so we thought we had a stray cat coming in.

He came in nearly every day for a few months and was always starving (eating 3-4 pouches of food in one go some days), he sometimes came in after we had gone to bed and liked to let us know he'd been in by spraying in the conservatry (he isn't neutered) :?
So we printed about a hundred flyers and posted them down our street, found the owner that day and told him his cat was coming round, eating and spraying, and he laughed, I asked the man what the cats name was and after thinking about it for a good minute he eventually said his name was Dominoe, I'm thinking 'you really should know what your cats name is without thinking about it'. The man said he hadn't seen the cat in 2 weeks, a few of his neigbours phoned too and they had seen the cat around so he knows how to get home.
I remembered putting a flyer through his door because a little dog nearly bit my finger off when I posted it.... so I'm thinking the little dog is the reason the cat isn't eating at home and possibly how he got his neck injury.

Anyway we weren't sure what to do about him, we were going to call the rescue shelter before we found his owner but I don't think we could knowing he does actually have a home. Over time we have gained his trust and he will now let me stroke him, not that he likes it much.

Sorry this is getting long.........

Well we hadn't seen him for about 2 weeks and he definatly hasn't been in to eat while were asleep, he turned up again this week and he has put on quite a bit of weight since we last saw him, he is getting fat! I've been conned by a cat pretending he needs food!
The problem isn't really the stealing of food but the spraying, first it was the conservatry, then he started doing the kitchen, the hoover, the microwave and today I've found he sprayed the plates/bowls/ cutlery on the draining board, the brand new plates and bowls I brought on Sunday :shock::mad::evil:. I am very very annoyed to put it politely!
I know now I should have just chased him off in the first place, but he came in all bleeding and looking sorry for himself, what else could I do!

Phew, I feel better for a rant! Were going to lock the catflap at night for a few weeks so he can't spray in the house while were asleep, I'm fed up of the first job of the day being cleaning up cat wee!

[Naomi]

Maybe mention to the owner that he really should consider having the cat neutered. That's probably why he's wandering off in the first place.

[Samz5]

Thats exactly what I said to him the first time I spoke to him, he didn't seem to care.
He did say it was his ex girlfriends cat, she moved out a couple of years ago, I guess he doen't really care about the cat much, I have taken pity on poor Dominoe but I can't take him in myself as I have 5 cats already, I'd really like to help him but the spraying is unstoppable unless he's neutered. :?

[Naomi]

How about contacting the RSPCA or CPL and inform them of the situation. The RSPCA will probably give him a voucher to get the cat done.

[Samz5]

Well its worth a try, I will give them a call and see what they can do, but its going to be down to the owner at the end of the day, perhaps I should give him a ring and complain about his cat?

[Kim]

I would certainly let him know how unhappy you are about him spraying, whether he likes it or not the cat is his responsibility so he should get him neutered. He probably doesn't want the cat so it may be better off in a home that does want him, so perhaps he would be prepared to give him up to the RSPCA, CP, etc?

[yola]

I would talk the the man about possibly getting the cat rehomed as he obviously doesn't really care for it. Poor cat - it's not his fault that he's spraying!! Sounds like Dominoe has really had rather a rotten life and needs a new owner who will take care of him and love him.

Maybe CP can have a word with the chap and persuade him to hand him over??

[Samz5]

I would like to suggest to him to get the cat rehomed, its difficult to approch people about things like this, you never know how they could react, thats why I've been putting it off for a while.
I think I will approch the CPL and ask them about it, and definatly phone the owner again and tell him how annoyed I'm getting.
Thanks for the new ideas, and feel free to keep them coming, we are in a tricky situation.

[alexgirl73]

To be honest, I think the CPL is your best bet. Personally if hte cat isn't being looked after then I would go to them and say he has been coming in to your house for feeding an dyou thinks its a stray. Worth a try. The owner obviously couldnt care less.

[dandysmom]

Agree with Alex; the so-called owner doesn't seem to care and the poor cat would be so much better off being neutered and in a good home where they'll care for him! And the spraying must be getting intolerable!!

[Samz5]

I phoned my vets about dominoe this week, just to find out about neutering, its been so long since mine were done I don't even know the costs and recovery time.
They gave me the local RSPCA number to get a voucher for neutering, so I will be phoning that soon.

Guess what.... I found someone who might want to take him in! Hes been after a cat for a while and when we told him about Dominoe he straight away was interested, showed him a picture of him and he loved him!
Only problem is hes a bit reluctant because of the spraying, but we have assured him its down to not being neutered and probably made worse in our house because we have 5 cats and he wants to leave his mark for them.

Ok, one thing I'm not sure of.... If my friend wants him should I just let him have him or should I phone the owner and ask before I kidnap his cat?
Half of me says well if he can't be bothered to neuter or take the cat to the vets when he injured (like when he first turned up with the bleeding hole in his neck that according to his neighbours had been there for 3 months) then he obvoiusly couldn't care less, but the other half says: its someone elses cat and I have no right to make the decision.
I want to do the right thing, What should I do?

[Moli]

Does the person who wants him live far enough away from the present owner.....? If they do, I personally would just make the cat disappear, they obviously do not care about him!

[Samz5]

Yes its a good 30 mins by car, there is no chance the owner would find him

[Moli]

Only you can decide, but I know what I would do...

[alexgirl73]

Been there, done this recently. The cat deserves every chance it can get and his 'owner' deserves none.

[Mags]

All I can add is that I really think the cat deserves a better life.......

[smudgley]

This is why we don't have cat flaps at home anymore - any old cat can come in at their leisure.:?

From a CP point of view (well the branch I'm involved with) we wouldn't get involved as the cat already has a home. However we would be able to neuter him for them.

Sorry to sound a spoil sport but if you didn't feed him in the first place he probably wouldn't of hung around. ;)

[dandysmom]

Hmmm. Prospective owner long way from present "owner". Neglected cat. Know what I'd do.....:-D

[Samz5]

Well my friend has said he wants to meet the cat, so hes going to spend a day here and wait until dominoe makes his visit


Sorry to sound a spoil sport but if you didn't feed him in the first place he probably wouldn't of hung around. ;)

Yeah I know :), I'm not in the habbit of feeding any old cat who comes in, 2 others have been seen off this year and usually my cats see off any intruders, but when we first saw dominoe he was skinny, dirty, had a huge hole in his neck (about 1 1/2 inches across) and starving hungry, for some reason my cats decieded they weren't going to chase this one off too.
We wanted to look closer at his neck injury because it was always open and bleeding so had to make the choice to either gain his trust or possibly chase off a needy stray cat.

[Moli]

I was the same with Chancer Sam, my dogs usually chase any strange cat, but Chancer kept coming back, and he was so thin and covered in bites where he had been fighting....He had been around at least 6 months before we moved here...I hadn't intended keeping him, but he decided he was staying!!

[smudgley]

Well my friend has said he wants to meet the cat, so hes going to spend a day here and wait until dominoe makes his visit



Yeah I know :), I'm not in the habbit of feeding any old cat who comes in, 2 others have been seen off this year and usually my cats see off any intruders, but when we first saw dominoe he was skinny, dirty, had a huge hole in his neck (about 1 1/2 inches across) and starving hungry, for some reason my cats decieded they weren't going to chase this one off too.
We wanted to look closer at his neck injury because it was always open and bleeding so had to make the choice to either gain his trust or possibly chase off a needy stray cat.

It's hard isn't it when they look sad & hungry. I would probably have started feeding him too. :oops:

[alexgirl73]

I feed my little tortie girls and have no problem with them coming looking for food now. Obviously I dont have a cat flap, so I dont have them coming into the house.