Unlike dogs, cat's don't over-eat so I wouldn't worry about it unless
you don't like the idea of your neigbours cosying up to your cat. There
will be no complaints from puss that's for sure.

Per tjb:

Cat running loose.... no collar....

Sounds like ours - except that another reason we don't put a collar on it is
that if it attacks somebody we'd rather not have our name on it... -)

At least the neighbors are feeding it and not complaining and/or trying to kill
it.

I'd be glad to be saving money on food and leave it at that.

I think you only have two choices. You either tell the neighbors not to
feed your cat or you keep your cat indoors. The safest would be the
indoors route because even if you tell one set of neighbors, your cat
will eat garbage or whatever else it finds outside.

Rhonda

This is a grey area in the law.    Lawyers will tell you dog law is
very straight forward, cat law on the other hand is full of vagueries.
A cat for examplt may have 2-4 "owners" none of whom know about the
other.  And with no collar or other indication of ownership the courts
may uphold the right of the neighbor to feed it.  After all the cat
has left your property.

The best way to handle it?  Keep your cat inside your house.
For all you know if this neighbor doesn't feed the cat six other
neighbors could be.

How nice that you have such a great neighbour!...... if I were you I'd count
my blessings.  Your cat obviously has a self-confident and friendly nature,
and is quite an ambassador for friendly neighbourhood relations!  And your
neighbour could be someone who just loves to feed animals!

I wouldn't worry too much about your cat's size.  Regardless of what we have
shoved down our throats (hey! that's a pun!) by the "dieting industry",
being so-called "overweight" (I'm not talking about obesity here)  does not
always equate with being unhealthy!   Personally I am what could be
considered to be overweight, yet I am very healthy.... with normal blood
pressure and blood cholesterol, blood sugar etc.  I walk my dog for at least
30 minutes every day, and get a reasonable amount of activity by doing
housework, gardening etc.  My mother who was a very healthy, (although
rotund) little woman, lived to the age of 96.... and was by modern standards
considered to be overweight!  One of the clues to maintaining good health
seems to lie in activity.... and what goes for humans can usually also apply
to animal health.

If your cat gets a reasonable amount of activity, and you want to ensure
that he remains healthy, then perhaps you can replace his biscuits (if he
eats cat biscuits) with lower calorie biscuits.  And perhaps reduce his food
portions to slightly smaller to compensate for what he may be cadging off
your neighbour!

My 2 cats are confined to the house from about mid afternoon each day until
the following morning, and they both spend about 5 or 6 hours outside each
day.  I have collars on both my cats, but always make sure they have an
elastic insert and that it is fastened so that it can slip off over their
heads quite easily should they become caught.  In fact, my older cat Rosie
(who is also a visitor to several neighbours) came home without her collar
just yesterday!  At first I was peeved because it meant that her engraved
disc with her name and phone number were also lost, but then, on
consideration I felt happy about the way that she was able to leave her
collar behind and not become entangled.  Just make sure that the collar has
an elastic insert and that it is loose enough to slip up over her head (and
don't invest in expensive name tags!... choose the cheap ones!)

Cheers
~Roberta~