My cat came home with a different collar on!?

Hi there!  This is my first time posting, but I need some guidance on how to handle a surprising situation that happened this evening.   Returning home from work this evening, I found my cat waiting at the front door with someone else's collar on!  My stomach dropped, fear set in because all I could think was that someone is trying to "take" my cat.  What if they take him for shots, or give him flea/tick medicine...that would be doubling his dosage of everything and it just scared me! What if they move and take him!

This is our first indoor/outside kitty.  We have 2 other indoor cats.  They never go outside.  The "outside" kitty goes out most mornings and comes home around 4 pm and stays in at night (he is neutered).  We got him when his original owners moved and just left him behind.  We took him in and have been caring for him for the past 3 years (vet appointments, medicines, food, a home and of course lots of love).  

In the past I considered myself anti-collar for my cats (too worried they would hang themselves or get hurt by them somehow)....Until our outside kitty didn't come home for 4 nights a few months ago.  I researched and found the break away collars.  He's been in one ever since.  Of course there are days where he comes home with out one.  Great!  The break feature must be working!  This happened last night when he came home without it again.  I bought another collar today for him, and was shocked to see some other collar on him when I got home.

Needless to say, he is getting chipped first thing in the morning.  But what do I do about this neighbor that is trying to "take" my cat?  Most of the neighbors know he is our cat, but I'm angry and scared and not sure how to handle this situation.  He is a very laid back cat and loves people.  He loves taunting indoor cats through their windows.  I have no doubt he would just walk into someone's house.  I'm sure this is just an innocent mistake, but I'm just too scared/angry to logically comprehend that right now.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

My suggestion is to keep him indoors all the time, at least for a few months. These may be people who have seen him frequently without a collar and think they are "rescuing" him.

The microchip is a good for proving it's your cat, but it's not visible to the person who put their collar on him. They could claim him without ever having him scanned for a chip.

If you can't keep him indoors then get an ID tag made to attach to his collar. It needs to have his name, your name, and your phone number. Again, it won't help when he gets the collar off, but the people see the new tag from a distance they should realize that he really does have a home.

I agree, keep him inside where he is safe. Did the new collar have any info on it like a phone number you could call?

Your worries will disappear if you wisely keep your kitty inside, safe and healthy. You can't imagine how many cats come into the shelter because someone has "found" them and they are considered strays. And that's if you are . lucky,due to the things that happen to outdoor cats ,an outdoor cat has a much shorter life
than a indoor cat( many studies have proven this) I hope you will consider this, I have successfully changed my in/out kitties to indoor only and they are happy.

Does the collar have any contact details on?  If it does, ring them and explain, nicely, he does have a home with you and will they please not feed him etc.?

I agree with what the others have said,keep him inside and safe, that way no one will take him and you wont have to worry.

OrientalSlave said:

Does the collar have any contact details on?  If it does, ring them and explain, nicely, he does have a home with you and will they please not feed him etc.?

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Exactly my though too.

Putting on a collar on a unkown cat is the standard way to try and contact the possible owner.

Had you looked if there is some message or phone number?

Otherwise, if no info on the collar,  yes, it may be a try to take charge on him. Good will - thinking he may be homeless, or bad will - trying to steal.  We dont know as yet.

You can yourself set on a message capsule, but probably best - keep him inside, if you can.

Welcome to our Forums!

Good luck!

Thank you all so much for your responses!   We did check the collar he came home with and no information is on it unfortunately.  Though, it was obviously an old collar.  The collars we keep on him do have a hang tag with the Vet's information on it.  We have decided to keep him in.  It's easy enough getting out of the house, while keeping him in.  Getting back in the house is another story.  Will have to figure out the door rushing when we're on the opposite side from him!  We do have 2 other cats that have always been indoor only kitties, so I'm not opposed to this.  I hope he gets used to it soon! 

I think one thing that would put your mind at ease is at least whoever is doing this must care for your cat enough to put the collar on.I have bought several collars over the internet, inexpensively too, that have your name and telephone number sewn right on the collar.You may try to follow him once to see where he goes, or ask your neighbors or any 'walkers' if they have seen him anywhere in particular. At least he is not being abused!

MuShu said:

  We have decided to keep him in.  ...  I hope he gets used to it soon! 

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Make sure he has lots to do inside, so he wont miss so much not being outside.

Good luck!

I so agree with others.  Keep your cat indoors all the time.  You already have 2 indoor cats.  Why is this one not an indoor only cat?  It may take some work for all the cats to coexist peacefully but there are many sites that tell you how to do this.  Please, please keep this cat indoors.  You don't want to feel guilty for the rest of your life if something happens to him.

I am afraid of someone taking Bella & Thunder so they both are indoor kitties. They don't have collars on cause they hate them and I don't fell they need  them.

dejolane

If it was an old collar, it may just have been some kids pulling a prank, too.
 

Mushy,
I am so happy you are going to keep him indoors now. When I had to get a kitty to stop the door rushing you mentioned I remmembered how we discouraged him and that was by shaking a small tin
With some change in it when we went to the door. He quickly decided to stay away from both our doors. Good luck

I'm glad you decided to keep him indoors! He may be upset with you for a while, but as long as he can sit in the window and smell the fresh air and watch the birds, I'm sure he'll be fine. Maybe you can start training him to walk in a harness and take him outdoors with supervision?

We have found a great way to keep him from rushing the door when we get home!  (at least for the moment)   We ring the doorbell prior to opening the door....that's it    It's like a cat-free home for the first 10 minutes of walking in.  We have considered a harness to take him in the backyard some, but I want him to be comfortable for long periods inside before taking him out.  Love the tin shaking idea for leaving the house.  Right now, we just make sure one of us is holding him, and then set him back inside quickly before closing the door when we leave.  The tin shaking sounds a lot easier!