"Owned" Cat in Health Trouble?

Hello all!

I'm new to the site and will be posting pictures of my two fur babies soon but first  I had a pretty important question. There's this beautiful cat that I feed on a regular basis. She's always got matted fur and at one point had an ear mite infestation so bad that it spread all over her face. They say they feed the cat but she's pretty thin and always begging for food (I doubt she's wormed so that could be the cause). The house they live in is in horrible shape and looks dangerous if they do let her in (missing window panes/broken windows etc.). They say they own her but I suspect they're only feeding her. My husband and I have put ear mite medication on her back when we thought she was just a stray. We were ready to take her to the vet and take her in but figured we'd ask around and make sure no one owned her first. Sadly they believe they do. I'm pretty worried about her now. We live right next to a very bust intersection off the highway where cats can easily be hurt. There are other feral and aggressive cats around, as well as snakes that seek shade under sheds and such. We've lost a few of the feral cats in the colony near us to traffic/wildlife and are distraught over what to do. The local animal control here is horrible and given that she doesn't have proof of rabies (I assume) they've pretty much admitted they won't keep her alive. We've looked into organizations that deal with cats near us but none of them can confiscate  animals. We talked to the owner about how dangerous our neighborhood is but she doesn't care. She's very young and......intoxicated....to put it lightly. We don't know what we can do right now? Can we take someone else's cat to the vet to get titer test and vaccinated appropriately? She has no identification or anything. We love her a lot and want to see her live and thrive.

Thanks in advance

This makes me so mad that something like this is happening to a cat. I agree with you that the cat is in trouble, but at the same time you can't just take her in, because of the risk of neighborhood conflict. Here is what I would reccommend, but other users might have better advice. Take her to the vet. If you pay the bills for her, this would put no strain on the owner, and I doubt she would even notice if her cat was missing for a few hours. I'm pretty sure that this cat wouldn't even have a usual vet in the first place. While you're at the vet, tell him/her about the cat's situation and see if s/he would talk to the owner. The owner might be more willing to listen to a veterinarian. Please, keep us updated, and I hope that other posters will have some more ideas.

Abyeb said:

This makes me so mad that something like this is happening to a cat. I agree with you that the cat is in trouble, but at the same time you can't just take her in, because of the risk of neighborhood conflict. Here is what I would reccommend, but other users might have better advice. Take her to the vet. If you pay the bills for her, this would put no strain on the owner, and I doubt she would even notice if her cat was missing for a few hours. I'm pretty sure that this cat wouldn't even have a usual vet in the first place. While you're at the vet, tell him/her about the cat's situation and see if s/he would talk to the owner. The owner might be more willing to listen to a veterinarian. Please, keep us updated, and I hope that other posters will have some more ideas.

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Personal opinion: I'd certainly make a discreet call to my legal counsel before taking someone else's cat to the vet, against the eventuality that there was an accident at the veterinary clinic.

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1CatOverTheLine said:

Personal opinion: I'd certainly make a discreet call to my legal counsel before taking someone else's cat to the vet, against the eventuality that there was an accident at the veterinary clinic.

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This is a good point that I did not consider. Definitely do this first.

sometimes one must take matters in their own hands. If they don't keep track of the cat...then I don't see any issues...especially if something medically is going on. And of course don't tell don't talk. just do it. Is what I would do. But that's just me.

I have a neighbor pretty much like yours, wants the cats for rodent control and says eh feeds them, but they cross the street to my place and eat every day, thin and always pregnant. I finally took the female into the vet and had her spayed, didn't ask because I was tired of feeding all the new kittens, they never knew and don't care. The final straw was when he informed him that distemper was killing some of his cats and if he cared for any of them he should vaccinate them, he said that they weren't really his cats they lived outdoors, and he didn't care if they died., he wasn't going to spend anything on them. We went through the heartache of trying to save them and watched so many die.  So we took in two males and a female and consider them ours now. They don't even leave the yard. If it was me, I would consider her a stray if she has no proper housing and isn't fed regularly, and keep her inside. I would bet they wouldn't care and if they do they would have to prove it was their cat with some kind of vet records or papers of ownership, which they most likey don't have.  If they do take her back, I would bet she'll be back where she is loved and cared for. I would take some pictures of her thin condition and matted fur too. Good luck and keep us posted!

Make her an indoor cat and tell the neighbors you haven't seen her!

We'll keep you posted. We'll contact some legal teams and see what we can do. For now we're bringing her in at night. We went outside at night the other day and saw some raccoons fighting and we just don't feel comfortable letting her out. We might post a "found" flyer at the local animal shelter. And legally if they don't claim her in 14 days she's adoptable. We don't technically have to contact the owner. I feel bad  doing it that way but we don't have a better plan at the moment. If it's legal to bring her to the vet, we'll be doing it soon. We have two other cats and we need to make sure any cats we bring in are safe before letting them roam around the house. I'll keep you guys posted on what's going on! Thank you for your help and for understanding, too many people around my area just don't see cats as the beautiful creatures they are.