I thought I did the right thing...

I posted a few days ago about a cat who showed up on our doorstep. We took him, in, and have been searching for his owners, looking for posters around the neighborhood, and have posted "Found" notices on several websites.

I got an email tonight from a lady in my neighborhood (whom I don't know - she replied to one of my "Found" notices) basically saying I shouldn't have taken the cat in, that there are a lot of outdoor cats in the neighborhood, and someone is probably missing him.

If people are going to let their cats out, shouldn't they have a collar and tag??? Shouldn't the owners, if they are missing him, be making an effort as well to find him (posting notices, etc.)? Should I be feeling guilty about this? What if the cat had been hit by a car? Didn't I do the right thing????? Isn't it more important to keep the cat safe, warm, and fed, and try to find the owners? This woman told me to just let the cat out and find his way home. Is that the right thing to do?????

In my opinion.....NO!! I could get on a soap box about neighborhoods with cats running around. ( By the way, check your local laws. There are leash laws that apply and many make statements about cats in these laws)

This is how many feral colonies are formed. An owner lets their cat out and they THINK the cat stays ONLY on their property. No. Many roam and those that are not spay/neutered have babies and a cycle starts that no one wants to take care of.

You are exactly right in what you have done. The cat needed someone and you were that someone.

If no OWNER comes forward, the cat is a stray that wandered into the area in search of food or abandoned.

The person that responded is someone that does not care.

Sorry about the rant. I have a house full of strays that I love dearly. You are doing the right thing. Hang in there.

I agree, I would have done the exact thing that you did, take the poor little guy in, except I would not have given it another thought. If one of my cats got outside, you would see me searching high and low and plastering every tree and pole with his picture. I'm sure he is safe, warm and fed with you and who knows what would have happened to him if you hadn't rescued him.

Some people are weird like that. If it is indeed someone's outdoor cat - they'll see the notices. If not - their loss is your gain.

You did exactly the right thing. Exactly according to the best books on that matter.

Help the help-demanding cat - preferably if possible by taking it in, AND parallell search actively after the owner.


My heils to you Sir/Madam!

You did the right thing. Also, the legal thing, in many areas. For example, in our town, if your cat leaves your property, it is subject to impoundment.

That woman is an ignorant buttinski! She shouldn't have contacted you if it wasn't her cat or unless she knew who the cat belonged to. You absolutely did the right thing.

We have indoor-outdoor cats in this neighborhood... one of them patrols our property! Anyway - a little calico from the people down the street wandered too far and couldn't find her way home. She was gone for a couple of months... the family put up flyers, etc. Luckily, she was taken in by someone a few streets over who also put up flyers. The daughter in the missing cat's family saw that and contacted the lady. So the cat came home. But what if.......

We have coyotes around here....

if somebody really loves that cat and is sick with worry, they will actively be searching for it, and will see your signs, etc. it's possible the cat got out and it was a total accident but insist on a satisfying explanation before giving the cat back.

I'm getting so sick of people like that woman who called, i don't understand why people think they can get so self-righteous in doing nothing, so much so they think they have a right to tell you that by helping this cat (doing SOMETHING) you are in the wrong. don't let it get you down, you are doing something good.

I agree with what everyone here posted! You did a good thing, and that "lady" should do something productive rather than call you up and complain about a "problem" she's not helping to solve.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I still have the kitty. He wants to go outside and it's hard not to let him. I keep thinking he is missing his home and I am keeping him trapped and unable to find home. My husband says no, he just wants to go out. He's neutered and not afraid of strangers so he had to be someone's pet at some point. The cat, that is, not my husband.

We scoured the neighborhood again yesterday but no signs have been posted for a lost cat. I have posts on several websites. It is puzzling to me that nobody seems to be looking for him.

I can only tell you that when Bijou went missing for 4 days, on the first day I printed up flyers and we walked the whole neighbourhood putting up flyers, going door-to-door with flyers, posting them on all the mail boxes. There wasn't a person in our area that didn't know our cat was missing. We had people come to our door asking if we had any luck finding our cat. Finally one of our neighbours came to the door and said he thought our cat was in his back yard behind a bush. We went rushing over and there was our Bijou, terrified to even come out for us. John had to go behind the bush and pick him up.

I also found a stray last year that was skinny, matted but very friendly. I took him to a vet and then to the animal shelter. My husband said I should probably have not done that as he may have belonged to someone. I told him that if the owners cared so little about him to let him get into such poor condition they didn't deserve to have him back. I felt no guilt at giving him a better life that what he had here in this neighbourhood.

So don't let that old biddy make you feel bad. You did the right thing IMO.

Have you taken the cat to a vet or shelter to have him scanned for a microchip? When I brought Goldy in last summer I took her to the vet to make sure she was healthy, and the first thing he did was check for a chip. I didn't put up any flyers, but I did put a lost-and-found ad in the local paper. Of course, nobody responded to the ad, so I still have Goldy--and her three babies.

You did the right thing.
My Sister lost her cat and put flyers everywhere and went to the pound everyday to see if he was there.
He went missing around Dec 3rd and turned up Jan 22 a day after my sisters bday.