 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsCat AnecdotesHealth and BehaviorRescue CatKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / February 2004My cat ownership experience - what a drama
This is the first time I "owned" a cat. She was an abandoned stray who kept hanging out in my backyard for over a month before I started giving it water and food. It stayed with me since then for 8 months. I looked after her excellently - giving her good food, good bedding, medical attention, groomed her, flea treatment, collar, tags, bells, etc. The I went away for 3 weeks, paying a petsitter to feed and care for her. While I was away, she too decided to go away. Petsitter said she always ate her food but was no where in sight. No biggie because she's a very shy cat. When I came back, she was no where in sight - I was devastated! - she finally came home but only at midnight to eat her food and leave again. yesterday, I found out where she went to. She went straight for the house across the street. I also saw people around, kids, etc and she was right at home there - not shy or timid. And the kids even shouted out loud - the cats back, the cats back. I have a few questions. 1. For the past month since I returned, if she had been back in her own plce, how come the original owners didn't call me (from her tag) to claim her. Why did they just let the cat be fed or cared for by someone else. 2. The cats always at her own home now so why do they still let her wonder off on her own coming to my place and eating like there's no tomorrow. 3. I can't take care and claim ownership of the cat when it obviously doesn't want to stay with me anymore and has returned to her own home. Tonight when the cat comes in to eat (at midnight) I will remove her collar and tag and stop feeding her. that is the only way to discourage her from returning here. I have spent a lot of money, time and emotions on the cat. I am not claiming for anything from the previous owners. It is hard for me to stop feeding/caring for the cat but I have to because it is rightfully not mine even though I have it collared and tagged it as mine. I just hope that the owners will now recognise that the cat is back with them like it or not and they have to start being responsible owners. It would be funny if they turned around and claim that I am now chucking my responsibility on to them. In view of all this, I am tired and honestly have turned off any pet care in the near future. > This is the first time I "owned" a cat. She was an abandoned stray who kept > hanging out in my backyard for over a month before I started giving it water [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > recognise that the cat is back with them like it or not and they have to start > being responsible owners. Why don't you talk to the people across the street and make sure that it was actually "their" cat first? See if they really want it and are feeding it properly. It's possible that the kids are playing with it but that it's not getting good food and medical treatment. Be diplomatic about it. You might be able to work out something where you can "re-adopt" the cat, and this time convert it into an indoor-only pet. It sounds like she would benefit greatly from your care. She would be safer as an indoor cat, and you would avoid this type of situation. MaryL > This is the first time I "owned" a cat. She was an abandoned stray who kept > hanging out in my backyard for over a month before I started giving it water [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > home there - not shy or timid. And the kids even shouted out loud - the cats > back, the cats back. Well, if I was a kid and had a cat and he was gone but returned, I would shout his name, not "the cat". Sounds like this isn't their cat. > I have a few questions. > 1. For the past month since I returned, if she had been back in her own plce, > how come the original owners didn't call me (from her tag) to claim her. Why > did they just let the cat be fed or cared for by someone else. You can't assume this is their cat. If it hung at your house, was hungry and needed attention, it very well could have been an abandoned cat. When you went away, it sought attention elsewhere - not unusual for a cat to do. If she had originally been in a home with children, she could be used to them. > 2. The cats always at her own home now so why do they still let her wonder off > on her own coming to my place and eating like there's no tomorrow. Again, they probably just think she is a stray or belongs to someone else, like you do/did. If she does belong to them, she's not being cared for properly and in my book, that's reason enough to claim her. > 3. I can't take care and claim ownership of the cat when it obviously doesn't > want to stay with me anymore and has returned to her own home. Tonight when the > cat comes in to eat (at midnight) I will remove her collar and tag and stop > feeding her. that is the only way to discourage her from returning here. Well, that's sad. Cats aren't loyal like dogs are. Cats are much more fickle. In her eyes *you* abandoned her for three weeks - why shouldn't she go across the street where there are many hands waiting to pet her? > I have spent a lot of money, time and emotions on the cat. I am not claiming > for anything from the previous owners. It is hard for me to stop feeding/caring > for the cat but I have to because it is rightfully not mine even though I have > it collared and tagged it as mine. Why stop? There is no reason for me to believe this cat belongs to the neighbors. Did you ask them if they oficially claim this cat? I will bet the answer of the parents will be "NO!". >I just hope that the owners will now > recognise that the cat is back with them like it or not and they have to start > being responsible owners. Fat chance of that. > It would be funny if they turned around and claim that I am now chucking my > responsibility on to them. > > In view of all this, I am tired and honestly have turned off any pet care in > the near future. Well, don't let one fickle cat break your heart forever. You had a good relationship with this kitty - why not keep it up? Seems to me that you both benefitted from it! -L. > Why stop? There is no reason for me to believe this cat belongs to > the neighbors. Did you ask them if they oficially claim this cat? I > will bet the answer of the parents will be "NO!". Agree to what L said. There is a tom cat about 3 years old that was left behind by a family that moved out in the next block over from me. When I first moved here, he would come to visit, often spending the whole day on my front porch enjoying the feedings and the attention he got. As it turns this guy is being quite regularly cared for by the couple across the street. He spends several days at a time inside with them but does have his preference for making the rounds of all his friends in the area. He comes to greet me every Friday when I come in off the road. Usually while still unloading my truck gear from the van, he can be heard approaching with a steady stream of meows and yowls. He follows me up on the porch and waits for me to divvy up the leftover deli roast beef that he knows I carry with me just for 'him'. After eating he will hang out on the porch for quite a while as he knows that I'll be back to spend some time with him after stowing my gear. There have been times I've spotted this cat on a porch the next street over from where I live, apparently enjoying some of the same hospitality he finds at my house. A few times he's even spotted me while at some distance <several blocks> from home and come running to my van, bawling away like he does when he comes from across the street. He will hop in the van without hesitation and ride with me on whatever errands I'm out for curled up on the seat behind me. When we arrive back home, he exits and heads across the street for home. I would never have presumed myself to be his 'owner' without observing a bit of where he goes. That is how I happened to ask the folks across the street about him and got the background info on how they happened to become his owners. circa Fri, 30 Jan 2004 14:58:54 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, RobZip (robzip.takethisout@eudoramail.com) said, > As it turns this guy is being quite regularly cared for by the couple across > the street. He spends several days at a time inside with them but does have [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > seat behind me. When we arrive back home, he exits and heads across the > street for home. That's really amazing. Laura  SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated. None of us "own" a cat..they allow us to do their bidding and grant us some favor! My Sammy allows me to fawn all over him, give him kisses and the like...as long as I keep feeding him <giggle >This is the first time I "owned" a cat. You never "owned" this cat in any sense of the word. > I looked after her >excellently - giving her good food, good bedding, medical attention, groomed >her, flea treatment, collar, tags, bells, etc. Excellently, except for the fact that you let her out to face the elements, whatever they are or were. Certainly, she was better cared for by you than before, but not quite excellent. > When I came back, she was no where in >sight - I was devastated! - she finally came home but only at midnight Your's wasn't her home. >I can't take care and claim ownership of the cat when it obviously doesn't >want to stay with me anymore and has returned to her own home. You never claimed ownership. Had you claimed ownership, you would have kept her in your house and locked the door. >I just hope that the owners will now >recognise that the cat is back with them like it or not and they have to >start >being responsible owners. See above. >In view of all this, I am tired and honestly have turned off any pet care in >the near future. Why, all you have to do the next time, is keep the cat in your locked home, and you and the cat will live happily ever after for years to come. You'll never have to worry about the cat going somewher and not coming back, for any reason. I'm sorry if I sound harsh. If you search these boards you'll find many discussions regarding indoors vs outdoors cats. I do not believe a beloved pet should be allowed outdoors to face whatever elements await them; i.e, predatory animals, cars, poisons, other loving families taking the "stray/lost" cat for their own. > >This is the first time I "owned" a cat. > > You never "owned" this cat in any sense of the word. It was owned in the sense that there was (and still is) some form of relationhip between cat and human. > > I looked after her > >excellently - giving her good food, good bedding, medical attention, groomed [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > whatever they are or were. Certainly, she was better cared for by you than > before, but not quite excellent. And what, exactly, are the 'elements' in the OP's case? Please cite the traffic density, probability of cat dying from bad 'elements' in the environment, with reference to poisoning, capture by evil marauding vikings and so on. > > When I came back, she was no where in > >sight - I was devastated! - she finally came home but only at midnight > > Your's wasn't her home. Or at least not her only home. > >I can't take care and claim ownership of the cat when it obviously doesn't > >want to stay with me anymore and has returned to her own home. > > You never claimed ownership. Had you claimed ownership, you would have kept > her in your house and locked the door. Ownership or guardianship are not synonymous with imprisonment. In many areas it is safe to let a cat out, and if a certain degree of safety can be ensured, then letting the cat interact with the world is absolutely desirable. (...) > >In view of all this, I am tired and honestly have turned off any pet care in > >the near future. > > Why, all you have to do the next time, is keep the cat in your locked home, Nope. Not necessarily. You need to assess the situation, and one possible approach is to imprison the cat in your home. This is not the only solution though. It is certainly not a universal solution. It may work in the OP's case if she cannot face the cat being fed by others and suchlike. > and > you and the cat will live happily ever after for years to come. You'll never > have to worry about the cat going somewher and not coming back, for any > reason. > I'm sorry if I sound harsh. If you search these boards you'll find many > discussions regarding indoors vs outdoors cats. And you'll find people on both sides of the divide. The 'indoors' proponents seem to mostly be based in the USA. > I do not believe a beloved pet > should be allowed outdoors to face whatever elements await them; i.e, > predatory animals, cars, poisons, other loving families taking > the "stray/lost" cat for their own. In many places these elements are relatively unlikely to be encountered. Keeping a cat in should be weighed against loss of its natural behaviours - that is, depriving it of its interactions with the environment and so forth. The kneejerk, unthinking reaction of keeping a cat indoors regardless is simple idiocy. However, to consider the specifics of the situation the cat is in, and then to decide to keep the cat indoors based on this, is a sensible - and caring - course. Steve. >And you'll find people on both sides of the divide. The 'indoors' >proponents seem to mostly be based in the USA. And perhaps worse, they often assume that everyone posting in this ng lives in the U.S., or that every other place is like the U.S., or that even in the U.S., all areas are equally unsafe for an unsupervised outdoor cat. circa 30 Jan 2004 22:22:32 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Yngver (yngver@aol.comnospam) said, > >And you'll find people on both sides of the divide. The 'indoors' > >proponents seem to mostly be based in the USA. > > And perhaps worse, they often assume that everyone posting in this ng lives in > the U.S., or that every other place is like the U.S., or that even in the U.S., > all areas are equally unsafe for an unsupervised outdoor cat. Speaking for myself, way too many of my friends live outside the U.S. for me to assume that we're all Americans here. However, there are very, very few instances where I would consider it "safe" for a cat to be an outdoor cat. To me, it's just the fact that by keeping my cats indoors, I *do* reduce some of the dangers to them. Laura SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated. circa 30 Jan 2004 05:36:13 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Kuisse0002 (kuisse0002@aol.com) said, > This is the first time I "owned" a cat. She was an abandoned stray who kept > hanging out in my backyard for over a month before I started giving it water [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > In view of all this, I am tired and honestly have turned off any pet care in > the near future. Wait a second- are you sure that she actually belonged to the people across the street? From your recounting, it doesn't really sound that way to me *at all*. Laura SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated.
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.