Cat now living elsewhere

We had one who left home ,he was a kitten from our cats' first litter .His mother was very strict with him and he often got a slap around his ears when he misbehaved

,She did that to our terrier puppy too,but she litter trained her so we let her away with it
.Kitten was about 9 months old when he went awol and we hunted high and low and put up posters.On a walk home one night we saw him sitting inside a window quite happy.We knocked the door and the old lady who answered said he'd been visiting for weeks and just stayed one day.She was happy to keep him and he was happy with her.
Maybe a child a terrier and a hard hearted mama was too much for him.He never visited us but was always pleased to see us when we met him in the street

It drives me potty that people let other peoples cats in to their home.
Why do people do it?
If you want a cat - get one. If you don't then leave other peoples alone. Don't let them in to visit it feed them. It's a complete nuisance for the owner.

Cats can be fickle. I had to really get tough with my (not very nice) neighbour who insisted on letting one of our cats in & feeding him delicious tidbits! He was very well fed at home!
It did stop him but we nearly fell out badly over it.
At the moment one of our 4 goes across the road to a (nice) neighbour but although she lets him in& I know feeds him treats she does make sure he comes home to us at night. More of a problem in the summer as he stays most of the day on our bed in the winter!

We have a sixteen-year old half Siamese cat which has always been as faithful as any dog we’ve ever had.

A holidaymaker left two beautiful cats behind in our village a couple of years ago. How callous! Happily they now have loving homes.

It's so true what everyone says about dogs. I adopted a 4 year old rescue dog two years ago. Had to start from the beginning with training her. She is now so faithful.

I was really angry with my step mother years ago. She started to feed a cat which she said was wild. She would also complain occasionally that she hadn't seen it for a few weeks. Tried to tell her it must belong to someone (it was a very healthy cat). Also tried to get her to have a cat of her own.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Although we’ve had cats, and I’ve been very fond of them, this thread has reminded me of why I’m much more of a dog person. Yes, they’re more trouble and are a tie, but if anyone had ever fancied appropriating either of our dogs, the second there was an open door, they’d have been streaking off home.

7 Dinner Sid! Oh yes, many happy hours reading that to my girls, but thought it was called 6 Dinner Sid? The book is still in the bookcase, ready for grandchildren to enjoy!

My ex-next door neighbour has recently moved house and, although taking her two dogs with her, left Orphan Annie cat behind. It made us so angry and upset. Ex-Neighbour was often away, worked long hours some days, so when I saw her cat eating stale cake put out for birds, last year, I automatically shared our resident cat's food with her. Now Annie has her own cat flap in the side garage door, her own tray of food, and sleeps alongside the ch boiler. Such a sweetheart, loves a tummy rub, but unfortunately our elderly cat doesn't do sharing! Why leave a cat behind, if you don't want it, take to a cat rescue charity, or even have the decency to ask us, or other neighbours, if we would care for it. So cruel and unkind in the winter too. Grrrrrrr !

Oh 25Avalon! I had that book with my daughter and now my grandson has it. We all love it.

Have you read the children’s book “7 Dinners Sid?” It’s about a black cat who “adopts” seven different families who all think he is theirs and feed him until he gets sick and needs a vet trip!

It makes me feel a bit sad for the dogs that loyally put up with the most appalling treatment from their owners and never consider leaving them. Mine are thoroughly pampered of course!

I live in a smallish village and my friend's cat had 3 homes in the same village. Three different names too. She never believed it and when she moved she took the cat with her - the other 'owners' must have been saddened.

Love cats, missing our big boy who died last year . Got our first cat when we first married and she lived to be 20, moving house with us 6 times, but she was fickle. 3rd house we lived in with her she would sneak into a neighbours house, who hated cats, and sleep on her bed. She would also pop across to MiL house two streets away whenever she cooked a ham joint. 4th house she spent her days with a neighbour across the road who adored her but never slept there. 5th house she moved in with a neighbour and deigned to visit us. Neighbour loved her and was upset when we moved yet again but didn't feel she wanted the responsibility of "owning" her so she moved with us. Never strayed again and lived happily at home for the next 5 years. Still my favourite ever cat.

It is so annoying when people steal your pets. My next door neighbour did this to us. He fed our cat and encouraged her in. I went around to his house and told him not to feed her or call her in and he said he didn't which was a lie. I put a collar on her with DO NOT FEED but after I actually spotted her asleep on his bedroom windowsill! He brought her back one night, knocked and said 'she needs the vet, she has cut her paw'. I was livid but obviously had to get her to the vet. Why do people take over other people's cats? I call it stealing and it causes lots of upset.

If a cat decides to live somewhere else does the new ‘owner’ take over the veterinary insurance? There much be occasions when this could be quite an issue.

Where I live there is a very old feral cat who lives at various homes, currently with a lovely couple of older people. Neighbour's tell me that he used to have a home but has been living the hobbit life for the last thirteen years.A friend's cat would often disappear for a few weeks at a time but always returned home, until one day he didn't come back. After a couple of years they got another cat and assumed the first one had decided to live elsewhere. Nine years later he strolled back into their kitchen, sniffed the cat bowl and demanded food. The newish cat was not impressed. After that he came and went as he chose.
I'm afraid I'm not a great fan if cats these days, even though I've had them over the years. No loyalty, they just use us and we put up with it.

I must ask - is your cat chipped ? If it is, at least you can prove ownership.
Cats can be quite fickle creatures and are renowned for going anywhere they are likely to get fed!
I would guess that as her litter is grown, she feels that she has done her job and it's ok to wander at will once more. Sometimes the fact that you are keeping some of her young will make her feel unwanted.
As others have said, she may well already be pregnant again so has found a new space for peace and quiet away from the kittens.
I think that you DD may have to accept that she now only has 2 cats that she will hopefully chip and neuter as soon as she can . The mum cat may well continue to wander between the two houses or may just stay put. I think it's too late to do the litter tray outside trick to bring her home though.

cornishpatsy

I am a cat person and like the way that they decide where to live however it is sad when they choose somewhere else.

I had a stunning Bengal and he kept going to a neighbours house. When I was in Spain my DIL phoned to say someone had put a note through my door to say that the cat had a swelling on his cheek. I phoned my vet and said I would settle the bill when I got home so my DIL took him to the Vet. I put a note on the cats collar saying do not feed me. Most of the time my cat stayed home, on another occasion I went round this neighbours home to collect him. Then when he was quite elderly he went missing again I went to the house again and the man carried him to the front door after this the cat was quite ill and after a stay at the Vets he had to be put down the Vet thought that he had eaten rat poison. I will never forgive this couple who had my cat in their house and were feeding him. I would have noticed he was ill much sooner and got him treated. To everyone DO NOT FEED A CAT THAT Does not belong to you unless it clearly is a stray. If you want a cat, get one of your own. I notice the first couple did not take him to the Vet when he had a swelling on his cheek. Also how would you know the cats dietary needs, people who feed other people’s cats could be feeding them something that is not good for them and what if the cat was on medication.

Gill33

She’s definitely not pregnant as my daughter managed to get her spayed after the kittens were born ! It just seems a bit sad she’s so overweight but there’s nothing we can do about it.

Jackiesue

A beautiful, old long haired tabby lives next door but one. His owner is out from the crack of dawn till late. He goes from house to house for affection. He doesn't care if you don't feed him, he just wants some love. He would move in with me if I let him. Mother cats often reject kittens when they are grown to prevent inbreeding and get her ready for her next brood.

We have a neighbourhood cat that has shared herself around several houses in our close for years. She is not chipped and nobody knows where she originated from. She tends to sleep in our next doors house but is often in ours during the day.
In our neighbourhood online forum someone was saying her cat kept going missing (now home) and she was going to find out who was stealing it and report them to the police.
I can understand her being upset when her cat doesn’t come home but I would think stealing seems a bit harsh as cats seem to choose where they go. (Not the cat in our road)

We had a rescue cat for years who disappeared early every evening coming home late at night. She ignored the food I put down as she got thoroughly spoiled at the local pub.

About 15years ago there was a stray cat who lived in our outbuildings. She’d never come near us even though we tried for a few years. One day I looked out of the window and she was walking up to our back door with a kitten’s scruff in her teeth. She dropped it at the back door and trotted back to the outbuildings. A minute later, same thing with another kitten until there were 4 kittens at the back door. I didn’t know if she was showing us what a clever proud mum she was or that she needed help to feed them but she let us stroke them. After a few weeks of this they all hung around the house but over a short time period 3 of them disappeared but one stayed. We kept ‘Belch’ as a house cat. Some years later when my DD moved out she claimed Belch as hers and took her with her and they both settled in nicely. But Belch started disappearing for a few days at a time. When DD drove past an Indian neighbour’s house she saw Belch on their doorstep and stopped to talk to the lady living there. Apparently Belch loved Indian food which she said she regularly gave her and Belch eventually moved in with them! Obviously tasty Indian food is far more superior than the standard Gourmet she was getting at DD’s. ???

We adopted a "stray". Several weeks later the owner turned up. It transpired that they had got a new scary dog. They let us keep the cat who would have only come back to us anyway. She lived to a ripe old age. Nowadays, microchips are more common so we could have found where she came from.