Evil, Wicked Catnapper

[rynosmum]

We had a beautiful black long-haired cat. I chose him from the RSPCA just over 4 years ago and brought him home. He was part of the family....UNTIL....

We moved to our current house 12 months ago and about 6 months ago, a lady up the street told us that our cat had wandered into her house and she had fed him. We politely asked her not to feed him in future whereupon she claimed he was too skinny (the vet says he is in perfect health).

Months go by and the odd afternoon or morning, our beautiful cat visits the lady - she continues to feed him and sometimes brings him home to gloat about how much he 'loves' her.

We do everything we can to keep him in the house but summer is here and after the cat has dinner, he jumps off the deck or out a window to have dinner at her place too - then comes home a couple of hours later. I have a run-in with the lady, express how disappointed I am that she continues to feed him. She denies it but before leaving, claims that he will only eat 'Fancy Feast'.

He now hasn't come home since Friday:( He has chosen a life away from an active toddler who just wants to cuddle him.

We lost one of our dogs in September as she was run over. Now our kitty is gone too. I don't understand what sort of person would so openly cat-nap?:confused:

[cwsmum]

What a horrible lady :shame:

I hope your cat realises what he's missing and comes home soon :hugs:

[Grizabella]

Hmmmm thats a toughie - cos if you are a b*tch to her she try to keep him in spite. Maybe buy her a kitten? Tell her to leave yours the hell alone .

Or you could go with your son there one day and get him to ask her if he can have his kitty because he misses it. May tug at her heart strings enough to stop.

Pity there isn't a higher authority that could get her to stop. Selfish old bat.

[rynosmum]

Thanks girls.:hugs:

That's not a bad idea...take the little boy up to beg for his kitty back?

I guess the problem is he will keep wandering up there whilst she keeps feeding him. Tossing up - hectic household with toddler picking him up and male parent not a cat lover or other house with food aplenty and no interruptions. Maybe he's more clever than I thought :detective:

She told me the other day that she now has 4 cats, all neighbour's cats, that are living there and she has no idea why :banghead: Her own cat is massively overweight, the poor thing can hardly walk

Fickle little elitist animals. I miss him:crying:

[jess_live_die]

aww u poor thing 8 of my cats have been stolden in my area too some people go get ur own .:banghead::banghead:

[Grizabella]

Like they always say:

Dogs have owners - Cats have staff

My sweet furry friend (insert sarcasm) just cost me over $400 the day we get back from a 5 week overseas holidays. Swear he did it on purpose.

Maybe you could ask around and see how many other neighbours are ****ed about it. Get all of you together to face her. Armed with crying children:devil6:

[Elfin]

Oh RM what an odd woman. She is very rude and disrespectful, I can't imagine anyone feeding someone else's cat especially when asked to stop. It is beyond belief to me.

I am not sure what you can do:confused: Cats are fickle things and it sounds like your cat is not going to stop hanging around that woman.

I don't know maybe you should get Ryno a puppy and cut your losses with the cat:confused:

[Percy]

Sorry to hear that RM. Your not having much luck lately are you. Have some :hugs: :hugs: :hugs: :hugs:

I agree with the others, take ryan up and see if that pulls at her heartstrings at all. She would have to be pretty heartless if it didnt!

[Seekrit]

Oh RM. You're not alone in this. My sister's cat was cat-napped by the stupid old bat over the road. Becca did the same, asked her not to feed him, one day actually entered her house to get him, kept him inside all she could but without screens that was impossible :(

Eventually she had to move house and chose to leave winnie with the crazy old bat as she was worried he'd just try to go back. :(

:hugs: silly old bitties.

[Maghan]

CATS... they do love to tart themselves around for 1. food and 2. a lap that doesn't move continually. My mum always said that cats will find their own home, regardless of how much you love them and feed them.

You know I've owned cats my whole life, but never truly felt like I was in a monagamous relationship with any of them!

How to keep your cat at home? Maybe a cat enclosure, so he can still get out in the sunshine, but not to the "Hotel Calafornia".

Good luck!

[Bron]

That's pretty poor form from your neighbour RM! I mean, if she didn't know where the cat actually lived, then fine, but to gloat about it like that!!!

Here's a hug - it's not a cat, but it will have to do for now. :hugs:

[BlueGin]

What a piece of work! Definitely consider the "distraught toddler" approach, after all, the longer your cat is there, the more likely she'll ruin the poor thing's health with over feeding!

My parents neighbours have removed a paling in their fence so that they can "talk" to my dog (he goes everywhere with me, which often means a day at theirs). In November they turned up at the door step saying they thought we had moved and forgotten our dog, as he had been in the yard so long, and had come to take him away if we hadn't been home! I'd only been there 3 hours! :eek:

At Christmas he was outside and the idiots fed him all day, after being told explicitly that he has allergies and isn't skinny, it's a breed thing, so now the poor pup is still recovering and is covered in burning rashes as his sensitive skin has flared up :crying:. He also had quite a bloated tummy for several days, which did not look comfy. Fence is blocked now, but I was so angry that someone could be so so so invasive!

Save your kitty cat RM, and maybe drop off a list of "short courses" from your local community centre or something, sounds like she needs a hobby!

[caz]

That's pretty darn rude of your neighbour :shame: She should go and get her own cat if she wanted another one

I'd be devasted if one of my neighbours did that to me. My cats are my furry babies, i'd be soooooo upset if one of them ran away to another house

[Lirael]

GO GET HIM BACK:yes: right now!!!! silly old bitty, tell her to get her own pets instead of stealing other peoples.(and rescue her obese one too)

[tickle]

That's terrible RM, what a horrible woman.
I would definately invest in a cat enclosure. A place to escape and have a nap in peace and safe from the neighbour. I hope you get your kitty back soon.

[juzzy]

yeah id go the distraught toddler approach too, but it does sound like she has got her heart set on ur kitty

i know id be upset if my two decided to visit someone else rather than me, mine are strictly house cats tho as both have been attacked by dogs at one stage or another...

as everyone else has said, perhaps invest in a cat enclosure so he can go outside in peace and not visit the old duck

[rynosmum]

You are all so wonderful and have actually caused me to chuckle quite a bit reading through your posts:laughing:

DH went up there this morning (she's about 6 houses down) and gave her an earful. She said that she hadn't been feeding him at all....oh, except for this morning of course because he is soooooo skinny:banghead: She is going to bring him back a little later apparently.....generous thing she is.

Maghan, I think you're right - he will find his own home. I guess that's the hard part....he has made his choice.

At the end ofthe day, at least I won't have to spend money on cat food, deal with kitty litter in the house, have him scratch the back of the couch, the occasional dead mouse on the front mat, the howling at 2am when he wants to go outside (he's very vocal). But I will miss his cuddles:crying:

I hope he keeps her up with his howling...and throws up on her favourite rug :devil6:

[melfunction]

Good on Dh!!

Would have been nice for her to let you know where the cat was for all that time :rolleyes: Can't expect too much from a catnapper though....

Maybe report her to the RSPCA and say you are worried at the state of HER cat because it's sooooo fat and can't move....

[Phoenix's Mum]

My god, when I read this it seemed like my scenario all along!!! Hope you get your cat back, we've had the same problems with our neighbour (she lives 6 doors downtho), she feeds our cat and she always comes home and vomits up :barf: whatever the old biddy gave her onto the concrete outside our back door. I think the meat must be off, or something, cause she doesn't usually vomit. We know it's the old biddy because she always stops by the front if we're out there and pats them, and about 6 weeks ago she mentioned that 'the white-faced once likes kangaroo meat'. My response was 'well maybe she does, but perhaps you shouldn't feed her meat that is off- it makes her vomit!' She just shook her head and walked off. We have 2, but one never leaves the yard- she knows her food bowl is always full, she doesn't roam cause she's too lazy.

But the worst thing is, we went on holidays over :tree: and my SIL was feeding the girls, and our car wasn't there in the driveway, so the old biddy decided that we had abandoned them, and our cat went missing for 13 days!! I thought she had been run over, my SIL kept ringing every day telling me she hadn't turned up, spoilt my holiday (our first with the baby). So when we get back, we call her and call her, but she doesn't turn up, and I knock on the old lady's front door, but she doesn't answer even though I know she's home. After 3 days the old biddy comes to the front door one morning with the cat in a CAGE saying she was taking care of her, because she didn't want her to starve, but she kept vomiting up everything she gave her!! WTF?!?!?! I got so angry, and yelled at her that she shouldn't meddle, and she cried!!! Said she was trying to help!! I opened the cage and pulled out Lishy and she is so skinny, I've never seen her so skinny, just skin and bones, and she just clung to my top.

She ate a whole tin of fish and slept for hours, and since she's just been hanging around like a lost cat, eating everything you put in front of her and wanting so much love. I went to the old lady's house and told her that she had almost killed my cat, she said that she had taken good care of her, kept her inside and everything!!!! Then her son came to the door and told me to leave his mother alone, she was only trying to be nice.

What is wrong with some people?? Why can't old ladies keep out of other people's business??

[rynosmum]

Wow Amber - I wonder if you live near me?:laughing:

Well, our Kitty came back this afternoon and is currently sleeping soundly on the lounge after a big dinner.

We used to live on acreage so he would come and go as he pleased - he was always in at night though. Now since we've moved to suburbia, he's just not handling it well and will race under your feet out the door if you go outside or will jump off the upstairs deck:eek: or windows to get out. We just have to work harder at keeping him in I'd guess. Although he does love lying on his favourite chair on the verandah during the day so we'll have to come up with something else there.:yes:

[reAllytee]

Oh RM :hugs:

Sounds like the woman has some lonliness issues or the likes but i really hope she stops now that your DH has had words !

Have you thought about an enclosure for him ? You can look them up online many companies make them for a small fortune of course lol but if your DH is handy you could do it easy !
We planned to do one here because we have feral drain cats that prowl at nite but the strata wont allow it. Luckily it only took one beating from one for my poor meows to learn & luckily not too much damage as i was there in a flash !

We lost one of our cats earlier last year & we were devastated as was Boof as they were best of friends. I just hope whoever has him treats him well.

Hope from now on your meow stays at home :hugs:

[bindiloo]

Id go to her and say that due to overeating, the cat has developed a thyroid problem or something else serious and that because she has caused the problem you want her to pay part of a $400 operation at the vets otherwise she needs to stop feeding the cat.
Pity you cant buy jars of fleas and release them in her house,im sure she'd soon get rid of all cats then.lol
Otherwise buy some tasty treats for your cat and reward kitty whenever he comes home. He may start to think home is better.

[nicoleE]

I DEFINATELY recommend a cat enclosure, it will eliminate all these problems of cats wondering off, annoyed neighbours and vet bills (not to mention damage to the wildlife)

We have 2 cats and have a custom enclosure up the side of our house and they LOVE it! It is 1.5m wide (between the house and the fence line) and about 18m long. It has paving, grass patch and garden beds. It also has 2 'catwalk' hammocks for them to get up above the fence line and veg out. They can get to it any time they like through a cat door in the laundry. We got it from www.catmax.com.au (you can see ours in the gallery - look for the red bricks!) There are also other 'brands' that are made from metal. They can be expensive BUT you can do it yourself either with netting like Catmax uses (like bird netting) or using shadecloth, lattice etc for minimal cost and in the long run the peace of mind and money saved on vet bills will be worth it.

:thumbsup:

Good Luck.