Cat conundrum, advice required
Discussion
Hello all.
Looking for some advice on how the people of PH would handle this situation. Recently I have had a female cat start hanging around my house, probably 10 days or so. On a night through to the morning it has been sleeping on the bins outside my front door, or on the doormat outside. It transpires that this cat belongs to the next door but one neighbour.
I have been monitoring where the cat is, and from what I can gather, it is permanently outdoors. The other day I went round to speak to the neighbour who says that she is naturally an outdoor cat, but has been spending more time outdoors because it doesn’t get along with their other cat. It was also mentioned that they were looking to re home her.
In my opinion this cat has been shut out permanently and left to fend for itself. She is constantly outside my house door, which is partly my fault as I was weak enough to start feeding her a few days ago. It is now beginning to cause me stress as it is obvious every time I open the door that she is desperate to come inside for food and warmth. Regretfully she is causing my two cats a degree of distress as I have already tried to gently introduce them unsuccessfully. I’m not prepared to put my two cats under duress and to alter the dynamic of their lives negatively.
What would others on here do? Would it be far too premature to suggest calling the RSPCA? I do not want to cause an issue with my neighbours either, despite the fact that I do not agree that she is just an “outdoorsy” cat. If this was the case why would it be so keen to be inside my house.
Ultimately, every single time I open the door, regardless of the time of day or night, the cat is sat there pressed to the door waiting. I cannot prove for a fact that they have actually abandoned her, she looks healthy, so any advice I would appreciate.
Thank you.
Looking for some advice on how the people of PH would handle this situation. Recently I have had a female cat start hanging around my house, probably 10 days or so. On a night through to the morning it has been sleeping on the bins outside my front door, or on the doormat outside. It transpires that this cat belongs to the next door but one neighbour.
I have been monitoring where the cat is, and from what I can gather, it is permanently outdoors. The other day I went round to speak to the neighbour who says that she is naturally an outdoor cat, but has been spending more time outdoors because it doesn’t get along with their other cat. It was also mentioned that they were looking to re home her.
In my opinion this cat has been shut out permanently and left to fend for itself. She is constantly outside my house door, which is partly my fault as I was weak enough to start feeding her a few days ago. It is now beginning to cause me stress as it is obvious every time I open the door that she is desperate to come inside for food and warmth. Regretfully she is causing my two cats a degree of distress as I have already tried to gently introduce them unsuccessfully. I’m not prepared to put my two cats under duress and to alter the dynamic of their lives negatively.
What would others on here do? Would it be far too premature to suggest calling the RSPCA? I do not want to cause an issue with my neighbours either, despite the fact that I do not agree that she is just an “outdoorsy” cat. If this was the case why would it be so keen to be inside my house.
Ultimately, every single time I open the door, regardless of the time of day or night, the cat is sat there pressed to the door waiting. I cannot prove for a fact that they have actually abandoned her, she looks healthy, so any advice I would appreciate.
Thank you.
Edited by robsco on Thursday 13th May 19:48
robsco said:
I’d love to take her on, honestly, but my two are already showing signs of stress and that is just with seeing her at the front door.
After they found our cat, seems he'd hitched a lift ten miles down the road, my missus started volunteering with a group called cats protection.I think they are available widely and deal with these situations regularly, procedure is to chip check the cat and enquire about whose it is, if that fails then rather than 'catnapping' the thing they give you a supply of easy break collars with a phone number on.
In your case you know who the owner is so they will go round and see if the cat is wanted, if not they get the owner to sign a 'release' then have it spayed/neutered and chipped if necessary.
Cat is then placed with a foster owner until it can be rehomed, the foster carer who kept ours for a few days has eight of her own, hence my refusal to foster.
Whereabouts are you, I'll find out if they have a local branch to you and if so PM you details.
Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff