Hi,

In the last month or so i have noticed that the woman oppersite has been keeping my cat in her house overnight and feeding it!

I was sat in the garden a few weeks ago when i saw my cat jump over the fence to the garden oppersite and then i heard a woman address him as Sooty. I know she was referring to him as he jumped in her garden and then she went on to say im so glad you have come home and ive got you some food! I tried to shout him back but he wouldn't come until a few hours later. Then last night i let my cat out at about 6pm then i shouted him to see if he wanted to come in but he didnt return. I woke up at 12am to hear this woman calling him once again so i looked out of my window and saw her opening her patio door and leaving food there for him to come him. I know she is only been nice but it really annoys me. He has a collar and a name tag so she must know he is not a stray. :rant:

Sometimes he doesnt come back for 24 hours which isn't like him, as soon as i shut the car door he comes running in to me and also when i call him he comes back without fail and i can only imagine he's sat in her house.

Has anyone had this problem before? and how did they deal with it?

I don't think classing him as 'your' cat is going to make it any easier for you, a cat is usually his/hers own cat lol :)

Most cats will go where they please, when they please. I'm pretty sure mine go to at least four other houses and I often have other peoples cats here, one of mine might stay out all night, but when she comes in, her feet will be nice and warm, so she's been somewhere cosy!

If you don't want them to wander and lead seperate lives from you, then I guess the only option would be to keep them as indoor cats.

You could have a polite word with the other lady about putting food out for him, but if it's been going on along time she might genuinely believe he is her cat.

When I was a child one of my cats went missing for months, then I spotted him one day going into someones house a few streets down. My mother went to speak to the lady, and it turned out he'd been living there for months, had a new name and everything!

I think that the best thing you can do is to go and talk to this woman. She may be under the impression that you're not looking after him or don't want him because he's outdoors a lot and so thinks that she's doing the best for him by taking him in.

The only other alternative is to wait until he comes in again and not to let him out. If he's inside your house she can't call him in, can she?

It has to be said though, if the cat has chosen someone else then there's not a lot (apart from shutting him in) that you can do because they're sentient beings who can choose their own human to snuggle. Work with this lady, timeshare the cat- he's obviously quite happy being snuggled by her too.

We used to have a community cat, who lived in the next street as a house cat for 10 years and then decided that he'd rather spend his time visiting lots of people instead. At one point he had at least 7 homes, all of which he visited for between 1 and 24 hours at a time (including my house even though I never fed him- I was usually in when it was raining to allow him access to a sofa and a lap). When he died, aged at least 18, he'd had a really happy life getting cuddled by everyone he met and generally being a loved up beastie- I couldn't have wished a happier life for him.

Hi,

In the last month or so i have noticed that the woman oppersite has been keeping my cat in her house overnight and feeding it!

I was sat in the garden a few weeks ago when i saw my cat jump over the fence to the garden oppersite and then i heard a woman address him as Sooty. I know she was referring to him as he jumped in her garden and then she went on to say im so glad you have come home and ive got you some food! I tried to shout him back but he wouldn't come until a few hours later. Then last night i let my cat out at about 6pm then i shouted him to see if he wanted to come in but he didnt return. I woke up at 12am to hear this woman calling him once again so i looked out of my window and saw her opening her patio door and leaving food there for him to come him. I know she is only been nice but it really annoys me. He has a collar and a name tag so she must know he is not a stray. :rant:

Sometimes he doesnt come back for 24 hours which isn't like him, as soon as i shut the car door he comes running in to me and also when i call him he comes back without fail and i can only imagine he's sat in her house.

Has anyone had this problem before? and how did they deal with it?

i had the same problem with my cat, he used to go into a few houses up from me and it ev en got to a point where she changed his collar wich really annoyed me. cats do tend to do as they please the only thing you can do is give them alot of attention when they are in. i bought him a new bed and spend as much time as i could with him as he is very loving and now he seems to stay in alot more

Two of my cats have other homes that they visit on the road, I really don't mind ...sometimes people can't have their own pet and enjoy a cuddle with mine, they always still come home several times a day and still love me :)

My only concern is that one of the houses is across the road, although its not busy I was told that he was almost knocked over the other day sauntering over so that does worry me a bit now.
I suppose that some cats are a bit like Hippies and like to spread the lurve :D

They do say there are twice as many cat owners as there are cats, my nieces cat kept going to another house and eventually chose to live with his new family, and is perfectly happy,
I think unless a cat is a house cat theres not much you can do about where he goes when you let him out, probably tell the other lady to stop encouraging him, but then who does that hurt most, your lovely cat.

i know some people dont like it but i hope thats where my cat is she dissapered heavily pregnant the week she wa due and never came home, nealy a year or so now and still no sign, no sightings at all so i hope somebodys took her in id be so happy to see her happy and well ect, although mad at same time from somebody taking her lol but if she chose them then thats up to herxgood luckx