People being over fussy about cat welfare

Gracey

Our beloved cat died a few years ago and we miss having a cat around the house.

Mr G was never a cat man until we met, some 20+ yrs ago. In fact he thought he didn't like cats. I wasn't having any of that. My two moggies ( long gone, alas) converted him, and since then we rescued one to share.

We adored her, Mr G spoilt her rotten, and when she died 15 yrs later we didn't get another, deciding the heartbreak was so awful, devastating, and we could at last take off at a whim without the cost and need for kitty care.

However, he's inadvertently become a cat whisperer.

I love his adoration for cats. He's in the garden most days and it's quite large. A neighbour's cat had taken to resting under the shade of shrubs but if The Man approached, the cat would take off. Over a few weeks the cat became more trusting...appearing whenever he heard Mr G in the garden.
It eventually came up for chin rubs, and would purr around his legs, then plonk itself down on the lawn in full sight to observe, groom, snooze and every so often obstruct his digging or wedding or whatever, to get a bit of fuss, which Mr G gladly gave.

No food was given, the cat wasn't encouraged into the garden but it obviously enjoyed the peace and quiet and company of Mr G.

Now...months later, it's on the feline grapevine that Mr G and the lady of the house are cat friendly.

Mr G now has the company of 4 neighbourhood cats most days, all well fed and looked after, who visit him regularly..

They arrive a bit timid but soon relax, sit under shrubs, roll around on the terrace, make themselves comfy on the lawn and generally make the garden their meeting place. They seem to know each other. The gardener has named for them too. We have Percy, Monty
Alan and Hammy.

Mr G is predictable. Named after tv gardeners.

They seem to enjoy being in the company of a cat man who'll talk to them, acknowledge them and not shoo them away. He'll leave bowls of water out, but we make a point of not feeding them, given we know all too well the worry caused when a beloved cat disappears from home.

The cats come and go and we never allow them into the house.

Mr G can't help being a pussy magnet. Ahem.

Last week we sat out in the garden after the sun had set and one by one our cat visitors appeared. The big Maine Coon ( Monty, but we don't know his real name ) from three doors down sat at my feet, Percy the chunky tabby watched us from under the Apple tree, Hammy, grey with blue eyes jumped on the table and sniffed our wine, and Alan, black, fluffy and the most imperious, viewed from afar, like a supervisor.

It was slightly Twilight Zone-ish but magical too, knowing these cats from round and about liked to hang out with us.

So yes, cats do wander and can be very sociable. This quartet have adopted Mr G and they've come to accept my presence in the garden too.

We feel honoured that we don't scare or unnerve them, but we are equally aware they have homes, so musn't encourage them to stray.

Cats do their own thing, and always have.

Ooh your so lucky and you describe it all so well !!

Oh, I thought it was just a local problem. Its beyond ridiculous on Facebook groups for our town. We have five cats that visit our garden on a daily basis and another two that are less regular from time to time a random one shows up. Nine times out of ten it's either someone new has moved in locally and their cat is exploring the area. People just see a cat and if it's stands, sits or lies down for more than a few minutes they are on Facebook. When someone's cat goes missing and they ask if anyone has seen it 9 times out of 10they haven't. Some clown saw a strange cat in their garden one morning and there was no response to, anyone know whose it is.The next time they saw it they were one their way to work and stuck it in the boot and took it to the big town 15miles away for vet to scan it! Apparently didn't have time to stop of ant one of several vets in this town.

A lot of people want to control everything
It's a sign of the times
Good luck with herding cats is all I can say!

Sparky51

Not everyone likes other peoples cats in their garden.Especially when they dig holes.and poop in there.I have 2 dogs..whose owner complains they chase her cats..well..keep them in your garden then.

My cats always pooped in my neighbours garden; thankfully they were cat lovers. I did provide them with a litter tray but it didn’t help.

We invested in a couple of Weenect cat trackers (one on the cat, one on charge) and associated app. Peace of mind.

I am very lucky I think. My little stray tabby never wanders from the garden and so the house and garden are her world.

But the law recognises cat’s nature and their need to explore and “patrol” their territory, and so that need is protected in law.

My cat used to sit on the pavement by our gate when people were wandering down to get their morning paper from the shop just past us.
She just liked a fuss from them, & sometimes people would ask if she was OK because she wasn't there to greet them that morning.
I did used to worry about the road as it was quite busy, but she was very canny with traffic & died eventually from kidney failure (she was a middle-aged rescue so we didn't know her age exactly).

I'm always happy to see the neighbours cats in my garden.My little old one is very tolerant.She can't climb the fence any more so is happy to potter about.
Last year though we were 'targetted' by a grumpy girl cat with terrible skin allergy. She just wouldn't leave and if we put her out she kept coming back! She pretty much moved in for about a month and eventually we took her to the vet for treatment .
The vet scanned her for a microchip...she had one. She was immediately taken off us,gosh I felt guilty. She had in fact relieved treatment from the very same vet.
Well turns out her owner lives round the corner from us. They didn't seem that bothered that she had been missing. She had probably been living with both of us for while! She still comes round for a visit .

We had a cat in our neighbourhood who was very good at begging and also very charming. His owner had to put signs up to say: Do not feed Cat!. She had to go six times to get him back from the local animal shelter which cost her all because of the 'concerned' neighbours. He really knew how to play people.

I found this beauty under my hedge one day. I didn’t feed or take him to the vet. I just spoke gently, then left him alone. I’ve no idea where he came from, and never saw him again. He certainly didn’t look underfed.

One of son's cats is a wanderer, often going off for weeks at a time in the summer.

At one stage, he put a tracker on it, and was very concerned when he saw that the tracker hadn't moved for several hours, and was next to a main road a mile over a mile away.
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He set off to check it out, fearing he would find a dead cat, or just it's collar. But no, the cat was just chilling out in the hedgerow next to the road, without a care in the world!

It never looks badly fed or unkempt when it wanders back home after a long time away, though whether that means that someone feeds it, or just that it is perfectly able to catch its own food, who knows!

Our local community Facebook is full of lost cats, found cats and run over cats. A huge number of cats are killed on our roads, usually young ones and usually at night.
Surely one day we will stop letting our cats out to be attacked or killed, just as we stopped letting our dogs out to run free in all civilised countries?
Keep them in to keep them safe.

Same here. Every single day missing cats, found cats, injured cats, skinny cats and cats being run over.

People get really carried away and get very abusive to car drivers and always say “people drive too fast” or “they should be aware that cats live in the area.”

We only ever had one cat but he lived to 19 years old and was much loved. But even as a former cat owner I have to say that most cats get run over because they run in front of cars and not because drivers go too fast.

A few years ago I ran over a large cat which just shot out in front of me from behind a walled drive. It was 30mph limit and I was sticking to it. I was horrified and very upset but there was nothing I could have done. Another kind motorist saw what happened and picked the cat up and laid it in the drive of the house as we assumed it lived there.

Can't stand cats coming into my garden and trying to kill the birds...detest them, they should be kept indoors, I will throw stones at any I can get close to...cats and rats, the only animals I don't like....the number of wildlife killed by cats allowed to roam freely is appalling (don't mind if it's the afore-mentioned rats, obviously, but it's more likely to be the poor, struggling bird population !) Bring it on, cat lovers, I really don't care, I've seen the chaos they cause too often!

The human species has done far more harm to birds then cats ever have done.

Get rid of humans and birds and nature would thrive.

DD3 and family are away this week and I’m looking after the two cats. They have magnetic collars and leave the house around 8 am. I go back to feed them in the evening but worry that they won’t turn up. I’ve decided to stay with them for an hour or so this evening.
I think I’d be a nervous wreck if I was a cat owner!

Yes It is a lovely post.
Being allergic I am not a big " cat" person but have always thought them beautiful creatures and admired their independence.
Mr G will be OK when he gets to heaven and there is a Cat at the Pearly Gates.

"I will throw stones at any I can get close to...cats and rats"

I'm shocked that you would post that Beans12, and that is speaking as someone who isn't particularly fond of cats and has never owned one.

My cat decamps for the summer every year. She comes in for food and immediately leaves again. She doesn't stay in during the night either though I would prefer her too. She stays close to the house. We live in a small cul-de-sac and she doesn't like people. I don't like this arrangement but cats are independent. She is 10 years old so is unlikely to change her habits. She does come when called though.
During the winter, she is inside all the time. hugs

Its probably not too bad to keep a kitten that's never been out, as an indoor cat with climbing toys & scratch posts & lots of attention.
I personally wouldn't keep a rescue cat who had been used to roaming cooped up indoors. I'd rather not have a cat. Ours was desperately unsettled for the month I had to keep her in, once she was allowed out she never went far (although if she could sneak out & follow when I took the children to school, she would)

We know all the local cats and their families. Sadly several have died of old age recently. We also have a cat who has visited almost daily for years. We've never found out where he comes from but we call him our spare cat. He's always up for a treat if there's anything going, and a quick drink from the pond. He's obviously got a home because he's a very well fed healthy looking boy. I think his people must be out at work all day so he comes for a bit of company.

I see endless posts asking all neighbours to go outside and check their garages, sheds, summerhouses for their missing cats.
Seriously - stop what you are doing to go on a hunt for their animals (again).
Inevitably a few days later we are all told the cat(s) have returned..............until the next time.

Do people really think everybody can go cat hunting at their whim. Surely they need to keep their cat indoors or build a large cage affair in their garden.

One day they won't return - busy roads everywhere. Then they will blame the drivers.