Stray cat for a pet?

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post, but..

I've been feeding a stray cat for a little over a month, I'm pretty sure she previously has an owner; she's very friendly and rolls over for rubs. However, when I found her she was covered in matting and you could see every bone on her. I have clipped all the massive lumps of matting off her, and she comes by for food every morning and afternoon and even sleeps on the porch.  My neighbor, who travels, has recently come back and the cat has been going over to his house, sleeping on the porch, and I believe he has let her in once or twice. I think it's his cat, but if it is he must have left it out for over a month. I've tried to ask him but he never answers the door.  I could get her micro chipped, spayed, and all the shots ( which she doesn't have, no collar either.) The question is, would the cat still belong to him? Would I be able to adopt her after feeding for 30+ days of feeding her?

Hello GypsyTheCat, welcome to the Catsite
Glad to hear that you are feeding this cat and also taking care of the matted fur and willing to adopt it. But the question is whether your neighbor is the rightful owner or not but it sounds strange that he just leave the cat out for a month and also when he's back, the cat goes over and stay at his porch.
And it is also strange that he doesn't answer the door when you go over. So maybe he is not the owner of this cat because he did not take the responsibility to get someone to look after the cat while he is gone and so he just left it wandering so that some kind soul like you will feed it and also take care of the matted fur. And you mentioned that you could see every bone on it. So I guess it is not his cat.
But maybe you can try slipping a note and make a duplicate for yourself asking if the cat is really his and if not, you'll take the liberty to adopt it as it is not in a good healthy condition and would like to give the cat a home. At least you took the courtesy to ask and if he doesn't respond to you, then maybe you can get the cat to the vet and checked if it's already microchipped, spayed or neutered and get the shots done.
Then you keep the cat indoors in your house and let it get use to your house. And worse come to the worse and later he claimed that the cat is his, you can discuss with him about the cat's condition and say you are really willing to adopt it and if he insists to have the cat back, at least you have done something good for the cat and still can continue to feed it as if it was yours by putting aside how your neighbor look after it.
Then maybe awhile later the cat decides not to return to your neighbor and decide to stay put with you? Who knows. But at least try to get a respond from your neighbor. After all, you did all the work, by right, the cat should belong to you.

Thanks for the welcome and reply!  =) Another possibility I was thinking of was if he had a scheduled flight or business trip, maybe he couldn't find the cat on the day he was leaving? I've tried three times at his door; I can hear someone shuffling inside but the blinds shut and the lights go off. I'm not sure whether I should try a note or not, they might just ignore it. The only time a car stops there is around 12 AM and disappears again around 3 AM. I was considering getting her spayed, but the only rescue center that will do it would shave her belly and put her out on the street the next day. She sometimes goes into a storm drain and I didn't want to risk her getting an infection, so I didn't bring her in. I haven't had her checked for a microchip, though I doubt anything would come up anyway.  I forgot to mention, but there are also other feral cats in the area. There has never been any cats around before up until about two months ago. Someone could've put them in the are to control mouse and rat population, I guess.

Tried three times at the door and shuffling inside and lights go off? Hmmmm......pretty strange fella. Maybe a note will help since this chap is not opening his door and seems like he's avoiding people.
Well, I meant if you do really wanna adopt this cat and he's been so friendly to you, and if your neighbor dosen't respond, get this cat done and keep it inside your home till the surgery site has healed and then just keep the cat. After all, you mentioned that there are feral cats around and you have the heart to adopt this cat, better keep it in your house and train it to be an indoor cat.
Maybe hang on to this cat first and deal with your neighbor later on.
Hope you can keep it.
See if anyone else here have a better suggestion to help you.

Alright, thanks for the help! I'll try leaving a note tomorrow.

If I believed I had a neighbor who was mistreating their cat or dog or other companion and they weren't even willing to address the issue and talk to me, I would call animal control. If someone isn't taking care of their cat, that's not okay. A person can't just abandon a cat like that for certain periods of time. But if you want to go ahead and adopt the cat, because it is obviously not being cared for, that'd be very good of you. Hopefully you are able to discuss things with your neighbor first, though. It is possible he is only attempting to care for the cat as a stray, as well. You just never really know unless you're able to talk to a person or animal control is able to assess the situation for you.

I wouldn't involve Animal Control because they will only offer to set a trap to trap the cat, and then the cat will either be taken to a shelter or destroyed. I also wouldn't leave notes for this neighbor or try to contact him again. I once rescued a cat I believed was part of a feral community by my work place. The cats were malnourished and I had been feeding them for a few months and decided to rescue the two who were in the worst condition. I eventually found the owner, and he turned out to be a known drug dealer, and I found myself in a potentially bad situation. This is my take on the situation. Don't try to contact this man again. After you take the cat to the vet for check-up and neuter, keep him inside your home. You could also contact your local police and explain the situation to them and ask them if they think it is ok for you to keep the cat (this is exactly what I did in my situation). They will likely tell you to keep the cat, and then they'll have the report on file in case this man were to accuse you of stealing his cat.

@MsAimee has a point there. But on your side, just take some precautions. It seems that you don't really know your neighbor. Hope you can get to keep the cat.
Power to you

Never got a reply from the note, not going to attempt contacting him again. The sliding door in his backyard is 24/7 open, he also seems to have a massive husky. The cat also has a large scar around her eye, it looks like either a bite or a scratch; the eye often gets glued shut and has to be rubbed with water to open. My concern with all of this is that, like MsAimee said, he may accuse me of stealing the cat. Is there any law that would allow me to keep her without any issues? There are tabbies in the area which I think are males, and I'm not certain, but she's been gaining weight and there's the possibility of her being pregnant. 

Big husky? Whoa!
Since he did not reply, then better stop contacting him. Maybe he just don't care.
Anyway, I can't help or suggest anything about the law or animal control as I'm not from your country.
Maybe someone else from this site who is near you can help.

Alright, thank you all who helped! I'll try to post with updates of what happens.

Gypsy, this cat is evidently not being cared for. Once you take him to the vet for treatment for his eye (he'll likely need eye drops or an antibiotic), neuter, and rabies vaccination, you will have legal proof the cat is yours. A vet record is all that is necessary. Take the cat inside your home, love him, and don't worry about it. 

MsAimee said:

Gypsy, this cat is evidently not being cared for. Once you take him to the vet for treatment for his eye (he'll likely need eye drops or an antibiotic), neuter, and rabies vaccination, you will have legal proof the cat is yours. A vet record is all that is necessary. Take the cat inside your home, love him, and don't worry about it. 

Click to expand...

Second that! :high5:

If they do choose to contact animal control, I would be sure to work with them and tell them I wanted to take the cat and keep it and care for it, myself. I would just be concerned if it is suspected that this cat did belong to this neighbor and they are neglecting it, they could possibly be neglecting other animals, like the dog. But contacting the police directly to report suspected animal neglect/abuse would just be bypassing animal control, I suppose. There is also the possibility the cat is lost and belongs to someone else entirely. But one can call various shelters in the area to ask if someone is missing a cat like the one found.

I also wouldn't want to simply leave a cat who is suffering and exposed to the elements, so I would agree with taking the cat in. If the neighbor does object, they should have cared for their cat in the first place. I'd also take photos of the condition of the cat so you have documentation that it was hurting. It's obviously a really bad situation for the cat, so hope for the best and do whatever you can for her.

I am inclined to believe, from what was described in the original post, that this cat is a stray, possibly a dump. The neighbor may have been feeding the cat but has not assumed responsibility for the cat, and he clearly does not want to get further involved or he would have responded to the note. I live on a dead-end suburban street with a small patch of woods around me. People have often dumped cats on the street. There have also been various feral cats that have resided on this street at different times. Many of the neighbors have fed these cats without claiming responsibility for any of them. It is not uncommon at all. Some of the cats have also been adopted by myself and several other neighbors. We communicate with each other and know what's what when a new cat surfaces. If I were the OP, I would not involve animal control or the police or further initiate contact with with the neighbor, I would rescue the cat. If this cat belonged to anyone, or at least to anyone who cared, there would be postings of his picture on social media, the local Facebook lost and found, and pictures of him posted on telephone poles. No one is looking for this cat. Once the original poster takes the cat to a vet and has veterinary records, the cat will legally be considered to be his or hers. If no one assumes responsibility for this cat, and his eye is infected, he could lose his eyesight or even die if the infection were to spread. In these types of situations, I care about the well-being of the cat above all else.

Yeah, I've found two intact, friendly female cats myself and came to the conclusion that they were either fed and halfheartedly looked after as a stray or they were simply dumped sometime after kittenhood. I realize it is not unusual for people to feed a cat without actually claiming it as their own. Someone in my family also found what they thought was a friendly, hungry stray and took him to a shelter to discover  he had a microchip-- turns out  the woman who adopted him had died and her relatives simply weren't looking after the cat properly and allowed him to roam freely. Lost cats can wander far from home, so if I found a cat I suspected was lost I would still check with shelters and lost pet sites. Whether a cat is spayed/neutered would be a strong indicator as to whether it is a lost pet or a stray/dumped/neglected cat, I'd say. Of course I agree the cat needs to be rescued, taken in, and seen by a vet. The cat shouldn't be left to their own devices or allowed to suffer. Since the neighbor is unresponsive and obviously doesn't want to do anything about the cat, it doesn't really matter what they'd say about it.

Though, I'll add, if this neighbor seems to be mistreating/neglecting the dog, I would still call animal control about that. Just going by what the OP says, it's a rather fishy situation. Either they actually abandoned/neglected their cat or simply won't own up to looking after a stray.