Neighbor's outdoor cat is driving us insane!

missinthesouth

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I'm not really sure what to do.

Since Thanksgiving, I have noticed a very cute, sweet, loud kitty is living outside of our apartment. He obviously is owned by a neighbor, has a collar (no name or phone number), looks perfectly healthy and sweet, and seems to only be outside during the day/early evening. I thought he may have gotten dumped or lost, but I noticed that he has a new collar since Christmas, and seems to hang out only around our building (we live in one of those 3-story condo complexes with a bunch of buildings).

Beyond my own personal feelings about the irresponsibility of having an outdoor cat in an apartment complex where there are many cars, dogs, and gators (in the canal behind the complex), the cat is driving us nutty! He meows SO LOUDLY all the time! He knows we have a cat, so he will sit on the mat outside the door and meow and meow. Poor Carl is going batty too, and he has started to try to get out the front door more than once. Last night when I was taking in groceries, it took all I had to keep the outside cat out, and Carl in.

The irresponsibility here really steams me.
I know we aren't the only one's who find the incesant meowing annoying, and he is teaching Carl to meow too, which is not good. I have asked all the neighbors on our floor, and no one knows who he belongs to.

Here is my delima. You are required to notify the apartment management when you get a pet (or face a huge fine), so I was planning on calling the Mgmt to see whose cat it is and if they could ask the owner to keep the cat indoors. You are also not allowed to have outdoor cats at our complex. BUT, I really don't want to be the one who is responsible for the owner getting rid of the cat, and I would hate to see this super sweet cat end up in a pound.

My Plan (let me know if you think this will work): Call the Mgmt, let them know about the cat, ask them to talk to his owner about keeping said cat inside. Tell Mgmt that if the owner isn't willing to do this, they should call me back and I will be responsible for finding a home for said kitty. I can't take on another cat, our apartment is too small. BUT, we are moving in 4 months to our new place (first time home owners, yeah!), so at that time I COULD take him. I can take him to the shelter (no kill) where we got Carl, and they will let me know if he hasn't gotten adopted by May. If not, I think I can manage taking the kitty.

What do ya'll think?
 

tnr1

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My Plan (let me know if you think this will work): Call the Mgmt, let them know about the cat, ask them to talk to his owner about keeping said cat inside. Tell Mgmt that if the owner isn't willing to do this, they should call me back and I will be responsible for finding a home for said kitty. I can't take on another cat, our apartment is too small. BUT, we are moving in 4 months to our new place (first time home owners, yeah!), so at that time I COULD take him. I can take him to the shelter (no kill) where we got Carl, and they will let me know if he hasn't gotten adopted by May. If not, I think I can manage taking the kitty.
I think that is very reasonable.

Katie
 

momofmany

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Just because the complex allows cats doesn't necessarily mean that they are cat friendly. You could be opening up a can of worms here. They could insist that the owner either keep it inside or get rid of it, and who knows what the owner will do?

How comfortable are you with the managers of the complex that they would agree with your plan? If you have any doubts, I wouldn't try to do this.

Many years ago I lived in an apartment and found a cat outside that would sit on my patio and annoy my cats. I was moving to the country in a few months and found a friend to take the cat until I moved. My guilt was relieved when I found out he was 10 years old, unneutered and not taken care of very well. He lived out his golden years hunting mice in the fields during the day and sleeping on cushy beds inside during the night. I didn't post a sign for the owner as they probably wouldn't have cared. If you see that the cat is being neglected, your actions could change.
 
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missinthesouth

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The girls that work at the office are typically college aged girls, and they are usually really easy to talk to and work with, so I will play it by ear. I am not going to call, but I will go by the office at lunch.

That is my biggest fear, that the owners will dump the cat somewhere or something. I have tried to find out who owns the cat, but I think it's someone who works until late at night, b/c no one that was home at 7pm last night knew who he belonged to. Maybe I will just tell the mgmt that I will take him (inside) if the owners don't want him. Then I can just deal with it.

He really is a sweet cat and I would take him in a heartbeat is his owner doesn't want to keep him (even if I have to put him in the shelter for a few months). Right now we don't have enough room to introduce a new cat (there aren't any isolation areas just in case).
 

natalie_ca

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How do you know that the cat even belongs to someone in your complex? Cats can travel a long way so it's possible that this kitty could live somewhere else and come to your area.

Given the inherent dangers of the area you are in (IE: alligators, dogs and other cats), I say skip the in between and just take the kitty inside and keep him. You are moving in 4 months anyway, which isn't a long time.

Sounds like you are a much more caring meowmy.

You could if desired or feel guilty, (I have pet knapped a dog to save it's life so I personally wouldn't have guilt or remorse for taking in the kitty) put up posters about the cat to see if anyone claims him. If they do then you could talk to them about the dangers of letting their cat outside and the long life benefits of keeping kitty inside only. You will then get a feel for how responsible they are and if they even care for the cat at all. If no one replies in the week, consider kitty your very own.
 

gailuvscats

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Yes, I would take the cat in and keep him in until someone comes looking for their cat. I wouldn't bother with posters, see how bad they want their kitty. Doesn't sound like they really care much.

I would not involve management at all.
 

catsallover

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Is he fixed? If not, maybe that's his problem. You could talk to the owners, as a cat owner yourself, say that he is hollering outside your door ALOT, and you are afraid someone will complain to management, and he will have to go or you are afraid someone who doesn't like cats might hurt him or "make him disappear". Perhaps they aren't aware of the canal and alligators- you could inform them of that, too, and tell them that's why you keep yours in. Other than that, if you're moving soon, I would just hang in there and not inform management unless it is a health or safety issue. And then make sure you have plenty of pics, vids, and documentation to support it, in case of made up charges against you for revenge (because the cat had to go, they had to pay a fine, etc.)

Plus, if they don't care, and you take him with you, they wil just think an alligator got him. Home free!
 
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missinthesouth

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That's the hard part, I would take him in a hearbeat if we had space to safely introduce another cat. I don't know if this cat is even fixed (or really if it's even a boy), so I am not going to just let it in the apartment with Carl!

If he is still in the apartment area tonight I am going to take him around knocking on doors. If I can find the owner, maybe I can convince them to take care of him or give him up. He is a cutey, I had to pick him up last night to get into the apartment and he is just a doll. I talked to the owner of the shelter, and she is very hesitant to take surrenders (they currenltly have close to 100 cats), but she will take abandoned cats. If the owners don't want to take care of him, I will bring him to Animal Aid (shelter) as a stray and just tell Tamara (shelter owner) to let me know when he is adopted--I already told her I would donate his vet costs. If she hasn't called by the time we get into the bigger place, I will go pick him up.

Edited to add: I am going to also take some pictures of him tonight if he is around when I get home from work, that way if something happens to him I have some record of his health now.
 

natalie_ca

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I don't know where you currently have your kitties litter box.

But if it's in the bathroom couldn't you move it out and set up the bathroom as a place for the new kitty during introductions?

Or do you have a friend that would take in the little darling until you move?

I live in a one bedroom apartment and have 2 cats. I got Abby on my days off and there was no formal introduction so to speak because I didn't have an extra room to put her. I was just around to make sure that no fights happened.
 
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