Can you ever 'own' a cat?

I currently have 3 cats, Bertie, Myrtle & Harry, all totally different personalities, all 3 have different places they like to sleep (& boy can they sleep) we have cat proofed the garden so they have the best of both worlds. I wouldn't be with out them....love them to bits.

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I found this cat in my garden one day. Normally, I’d have gradually tried to get closer to it, but I was wary. Maybe because it reminded me of a lion! I’d never seen it before, nor have I since.

Cats own you.
😻
Puuuurrrrrrrrr!

Granatlast007 I understand what you feel, my friend has a similar cat but it’s a huge Birman.It really is an unpleasant thing and has similar traits.😬

Have had 10 cats over the years. Used to let them out until my beautiful ginger Jimmy was killed by a car! Cannot face that again so no more going out. Luckily all have been older adopted cats used to staying in. My lovely boy I am owned by now had never been out so we carry this on. He is not at all interested in going outside only if he walks out with me. Then he dashes back in & hides under his chair. He tells me when to get up, when to go to bed, when it is meal time & when to be cuddled. I always do as I am told as he is very good at glaring at me if I do something wrong! Do I love him? Oh yes! Worship the ground he walks on! He is one of the best in spite of some problems from his past. He does own me!

I had a cat many years ago. After she had eaten in the evening went out at about 7 and came back when I walked the dogs at about 10. She came back smelling of coal smoke and what I presume was hand cream. Never did find where she went as my neighbours did not have coal fires.

Sago

My ex neighbour had a cat that used our garden as a lavatory.

I was so relieved when it finally died.

Sago I had to laugh. You would probably appreciate Australia where, because of the devastating effect on native fauna, cats must be kept indoors or kept in outdoor enclosures.

For additional info as some people can only hear their own voice -

the cat I described above has a life of luxury, he doesn't use his cat flap, he waits to be let in one of the doors or out of ground floor windows. He is bought the best two brands of cat food on the market, he also has plenty of treats, no addictive Dreamies for him, the best 'real meat cat treats', he sleeps wherever he wants including our bed, he has a huge garden of his own and lots of sunny corners to languish in.

My best cat was called Sam, many years ago now, he lived until he was 22. He was my shadow, along with the dog, they would follow me all over the house and garden, one on each side. He talked to me all the time, all sorts of little noises and miaows. I loved him to bits, wrote poems about him and still feel sad when I think of him. He was a REAL cat.

My ex neighbour had a cat that used our garden as a lavatory.

I was so relieved when it finally died.

I love cats and have had them all my life. They are wonderful pets who return a lot of love. I treat my cat like a much-loved member of the family, and she returns this.

She's a little rescue cat who had a traumatic background and a litter of kittens at only 6 months old, at which point she was dumped at the cat shelter. She likes her routine.

I couldn't live alone, as I do, without a cat for company. All the cats I have had throughout my life have had their own little personalities, but all have been loving and affectionate.

What a nice thread😻
Why not post a pic of your cat on here, I can’t really have a cat as no garden and a busy road so wouldn’t be fair to it.

Before I had children I had a cat that was the love of my life. He went to live with someone a few streets away. I didn’t find out till several years later. I was convinced he’d been stolen for animal research.

tight right ....

4allweknow😀 Years ago our neighbour's cat used to sit on the pavement at the tight time and wait for their daughter to come home from school. I still know the daughter (DD's friend) and she still loves cats.

Have had two cats both were not out at night and definitely not house cats. The second one would escort the children so far down the road to school, sit down until they were out of sight then come back to the
garden and be a cat for the rest of day until time for children to come back from school. Cat would park herself at tge same spot as in the morning and wait for children to arrive then return to the house. This went on until due to secondary school timetables home arrivals were all staggered. She did though wait and when first arrived, home she came. No bribery ever got her to change routine. We didn't go abroad for holidays and she came with us in a cage. Absolutely treasured that cat.

I love them! If there's any owning to be done they do it, on their terms😺😺😺

I have had both cats and dogs in my life. Several of those cats have been lovable, affectionate and a joy to remember, cats who loved to sit on our laps and snuggle up on a winter's night.

Currently, actually for about 5 years now, we have a monster of a cat. He's a Maine Coon cross, ex rescue and I have never come across such a selfish, self interested individual. He has expectations about where he can sit and climb in the house and he will only sit on your lap when it suits him It has to be the way round he wants and if you stroke him and do it insensitively or absentmindedly and he doesn't like it, he will lash out - with claws out!

He's beyond fussy with food and we do buy the better brands but over the last year or so, he has come to realise that we eat differently (he's too clever for his own good, you can see him working things out and he does understand language!). So he watches us eating and always wants to inspect the plates and will sulk with back turned and tail lashing if we don't allow this.

I recently, stupidly, left him a little fish from a fish and chip supper. Having realised that we do indeed eat some things he recognises as food, his demands have increased and he will steal off our plates if we turn our backs. He has also developed a left paw raised mannerism, just like a dog! Seriously, he fixes you with a glare, and up comes the left leg and the paw extends and is opened and flexed. I said to my husband, he would definitely eat us if we fell and couldn't move for a period of time.

He is an excellent hunter and murders everything in sight including rats and huge magpies. Goodness knows how he gets the latter through the cat flap. Apologies, if some think this post is not totally loving but actually, I've always loved animals and I am shocked to find how I feel bullied and have stopped liking him. We discuss rehoming because one way and another, he costs a fortune and only interacts when HE wants something. He is on offer if anyone thinks he sounds great. [sad}

Allsorts

I love cats, they do give lots of love. I like their independance.
I have never had a cat disappear, one left home for two days
returning home very hungry. I would love another one but wary of the road here now, .Would not ever have a house cat because I just feel cruel, when I get family cats to look after and they have to stay in, they sit on the window sil looking out. I am a free spirit and need to get out myself so I understand..

Cats can also get locked in people’s outbuildings, one of our cats disappeared for several days, we were putting up posters, then he just appeared one day black as the ace of spades and ravenously hungry. Bathing him was a trial for him as well as us.
We imagined he’d got stuck in a dirty old garage or shed.

If there is any reincarnation I would like to come back as a cat. They live as they want, choose to stay or not with you and are very independant. For those who like cats I recommend a book titled the Silent Miaow by Paul Gallico who wrote the snow goose. I have loved many dogs especially those owned by my grandmother on a farm, where there were indoor and outdoor dogs ranging from pekinese , who looked after properly and not overfed are great little charactors and love travelling round the fields to spaniels and labradors etc. But they could all be devoted to one or more different humans and so as I have always been fiercely independant, for me the cat has it!!

I love cats,one visits every day..his owner left him, he is a good natured cat, arrives every morning for breakfast,then goes out on his travels,back for dinner, has a sleep on a chair...I've no idea where he goes at night, probably someone else takes him in..

I love cats, they do give lots of love. I like their independance.
I have never had a cat disappear, one left home for two days
returning home very hungry. I would love another one but wary of the road here now, .Would not ever have a house cat because I just feel cruel, when I get family cats to look after and they have to stay in, they sit on the window sil looking out. I am a free spirit and need to get out myself so I understand..

Legally, this depends on where you live.

The law in Denmark now states that ownership of cat only exists if the cat is chipped. Anyone taking in a stray cat should have the cat checked - if it is chipped, they may not keep the cat, but they or the vet, doing the checking, is obliged to contact the owner the cat is registered to. If that person no longer wants the cat, is able to keep it, or has died and no relatives are prepared to keep the cat, it can then be re-registered to the person who has take it in.

If the cat was not chipped, the finder may pay to have this done, and the cat can then not be claimed by anyone else, or put down by muncipal animal control, or by a person who dislikes cats and find it on their property.

I suspect this last group of people are not bothered by the fact that they should check if the cat is chipped or not.

Emotionally, it depends on your relationship to your cats, whether you "own" them or not. I talk to mine, and they respond with a variety of sounds or through body language.

They own me to the extent of being huffy if I am away too long in the course of the day, or have the temerity to go away for an overnight stay anywhere - we have not yet progressed to (perish the thought!) a holiday.

And when they want a cuddle, they expect me to drop whatever I am doing and oblige!

18 months after his death, they still occasionally look for my husband in his work-shop or stare at the empty sofa.

So who owns whom?

Since our little stray came to live with us a year ago, Ive been comparing the two species.

They can’t be compared - that I have learned.

My little terrier was totally bonded to us and gave us all his loyalty and love until the minute he died. He was at his absolute happiest when the three of us were together enjoying each others company especially on nice long walks. His world was complete as long as his pack was with him. So his need was entirely on the beings in his life.

My little cat is at the moment totally bonded to her territory and the humans it contains. She is at her happiest when her routine is identical to the day before and the day before that, including feeding, bed and daily routine. Her need is centred on her hunting grounds (the garden) her warm bed, her feeding and then us for protection, especially when she is sound asleep at night.

But would she be lost without us? The answer I think is that she would miss us for the routine and protection we give her, but she is hard-wired to survive.

Cats have only been domesticated for 10k or so years Dogs - at least 3 times that.

Cats are imperious creatures with a mind of their own .
If they don't like living with you they will leave and if they don't like people they'll demonstrate it .
I had a unneutered tom Siamese once .
He was gentle with me and my kids ,but he nearly took a visitor's eye out.
I had another part Siamese and he attacked every workman who came to the house .
They refused to come .
And the vet refused to treat him unless fully sedated. His hands shook shook violently as he injected him and he said that he was dangerous !
And yet ,though he was playful with me -he never did anything vicious .

I've had a lot of rescue moggies .

By the far ,
the silliest cats that I've owned are Persians - too frightened to go in the garden alone .
A leaf landed on one of them and she was so frightened that she ran up a small tree and it was so difficult to extract her .

No, no one will ever own a cat. Family lore from my childhood is that my mum & dad had a tabby cat called Simon. When my parents brought newborn me home from hospital, Simon took one look at this noisy, smelly bundle, stalked off down the garden path, crossed the road and took up residence in Mr & Mrs Bowen’s house, where he lived for the rest of his life.

Put simply no you can’t own a cat, it’s the other way round x