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Neighbors moved, left cat behind

E

emag

Member
My previous neighbors had a mostly outdoor cat (could have been a stray that they just happened to feed, but their kids were quite familiar with it, too). They moved out last week, but the cat's still hanging around outside. I'm pretty sure my new neighbors are unaware of the cat's presence or at least the its history with the previous neighbors.

Winter is coming and I'm a bit concerned about the cat's chances for survival without the previous neighbors around. On the other hand, I really have no relationship with this cat and have no desire to take responsibility for it. (I felt like shit for not giving our own needy cat the attention she desired during work hours, so we had to re-home her with another family.)

Does CatGAF have any advice?

EDIT:

Thank you for the responses. I'll talk to the spouse, post a notification on social media (for our community), and check in with the neighbors in person before taking any direct action.

To clarify, I don't know if the cat's "feral" vs. a stray vs. a socialized outdoor cat, but it's been living mostly outdoors for as the 3+ years I've been in my home (I don't really know where it goes in the depths of winter). I'm not unwilling to put out food for it or place some sort of shelter in our backyard, but I'm not going to domesticate/house-train it either.
 
Take it in, feed it, it will love you.

Get another cat at the shelter while you're at it, so you don't have to feel guilty about leaving it alone and get to save another one. Feel good.
 
It's not hard to figure out what to do. You let the new neighbors know about the cat, find out where the old ones moved, or take the cat to the local animal shelter.
 
Call a local animal rescue if there is around. There's enough volunteers organizations that one might be able to help.
 
Fucking assholes. I hate that shit.

I used to live in a college town and some asshole kids I knew bought a dog for their house and left it in the street when they graduated.

If I could find those fucks and run them over with my car I would.
 
Call out the owners on Social Media, See if you can find where they moved, If its close take the cat to them.

Oh and the owners are asshole for leaving their cat.
 
Take it in, make a cat flap so it can walk in and out while you are at work, go to the shelter, get 3 more cats, be amazed at how great cats are.
 
You could start feeding it and just let it be an outdoor cat that occasionally visits you. My mum did this for about 6 months before a stray cat made its way into her home.

Otherwise, if you take it to a shelter, make sure it's a no-kill shelter.
 
If the cat knows how to be outdoors, should be fine. IÂ’m sure he/she has figured half a dozen houses in the area that will feed him/her.
 
Aiii said:
Take it in, feed it, it will love you.

Get another cat at the shelter while you're at it, so you don't have to feel guilty about leaving it alone and get to save another one. Feel good.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what we did. We adopted a kitten and shortly after we had to go on a trip for about a week. I had a family member come check on the cat every couple of days while we were gone. When we returned the cat seemed traumatized that we left him alone. He wouldn't come out from under the bed for 2 days. so we went out and got another cat. 2 years later they are best buds and act like they can't wait for us to go out of town again so they can throw their own little unsupervised cat party.
 
Tell the new neighbours about the cat? Shelter is always an option but I wouldn't jump their first at all, cat's not going to appreciate much being ripped from the haunt it's known for so long (and it might be comfortable surviving on it's own)
 
I had neighbours that did that. I'm glad they did. He's such a beautiful boy.

Since you aren't willing to take care of it, you should probably get it off the street. Take it to a good shelter and hope for the best.
 
Call animal control and have them take it to a shelter. Or take the cat in yourself.

Can't let it stay outside if it's not feral.
 
appaws said:
Fucking assholes. I hate that shit.

I used to live in a college town and some asshole kids I knew bought a dog for their house and left it in the street when they graduated.

If I could find those fucks and run them over with my car I would.
Click to expand...

WOW.

Not looking forward to the winter. I love when my cats can be outside. They get all pissy inside in the winter.
 
You all are quick to call the neighbors assholes when it's not even confirmed if it isn't just some stray cat that they fed often. If it was just a stray one it'll go back to living like before. If you're concerned, take it to a shelter.
 
themagicalkitsune said:
You all are quick to call the neighbors assholes when it's not even confirmed if it isn't just some stray cat that they fed often. If it was just a stray one it'll go back to living like before. If you're concerned, take it to a shelter.
Click to expand...

This is true, I got a neighborhood cat that comes through my back yard on occasion
 
it is possible that this was not their cat at all. Do you know if it ever went into their house? If not, it'll probably be fine outside.

Take it to the shelter though if you're really concerned.
 
themagicalkitsune said:
You all are quick to call the neighbors assholes when it's not even confirmed if it isn't just some stray cat that they fed often. If it was just a stray one it'll go back to living like before. If you're concerned, take it to a shelter.
Click to expand...

Yup. It sounds like they were a bit kind to a neighborhood stray, not that they abandoned their pet.
It would, of course, have been nice if they had taken the cat in and kept the cat when they moved, but it hardly seems like something to condemn them for.
 
appaws said:
I used to live in a college town and some asshole kids I knew bought a dog for their house and left it in the street when they graduated.
Click to expand...

I don't know what the law is for this, but on moral grounds, I believe this behavior should result in jail time. It is absolutely horrendous to do something like this.
 
Thank you for the responses.

To clarify, I don't know if the cat's "feral" vs. a stray vs. a socialized outdoor cat, but it's been living mostly outdoors for as the 3+ years I've been in my home (I don't really know where it goes in the depths of winter). I'm not unwilling to put out food for it or place some sort of shelter in our backyard, but I'm not going to domesticate/house-train it either.

I'll talk to the spouse, post a notification on social media (for our community), and check in with the neighbors in person before taking any direct action.

caramac said:
Do your former neighbors still live locally?

Maybe the cat just made its way back there.
Click to expand...

It's possible, but they moved an hour away (still within the DMV metro area), so the cat would have to be pretty adept at dodging traffic to have made the journey on its own.

Akuun said:
Come to think of it, if it really was a mostly outdoors cat, maybe it's just fine if left outside in the winter?
Click to expand...

Perhaps I'm just underestimating the cat's hardiness. Can outdoors cats/strays do fine in Washington, DC winters?
 
N9koL2.gif
 
Cats donÂ’t really need a ton of attention. You have several options:

1 move it in and allow it to co habitate with you.

2 leave out food and water

3 take it to a shelter
 
Come to think of it, if it really was a mostly outdoors cat, maybe it's just fine if left outside in the winter?

It sounds like the cat was more of a neighbor to your neighbors than a pet.
 
Asshole, I stopped talking to a friend because he did something bad.

His cat fell from a 5 story building and survived. The cat grew paranoid and it had mental issues after that fall. He was fed up with it and drove a few miles away and he dropped it off in a random block and drove away...i live in NYC btw. I was so devastated when he told me this. I stopped talking to him since then
 
Yeah, when my brother bought his house, the owners made him aware there was a cat that had just showed up on the property a few months prior, and they couldn't take her with them. They weren't even feeding her at first, she just caught tons of mice and birds apparently (house is basically in the woods). She evaded all attempts at capture before my brother moved in, and over the years slowly and gradually moved into his house and became like any other normal cat.
 
This seems pretty common, I had neighbors do this before. They left their last cat behind when they moved. It went stray and had a bunch of litters, and my friend's mom was essentially feeding a small colony of stray/ferals. The little mom cat let itself in one day and stayed for 15 years. Just last year my friend's mom admits that she always felt bad about stealing someone's cat.

I never realized she had no idea that cat was abandoned. My friend and I knew, but apparently we never told her mom. Whoops! I did explain to her who the cat used to belong to at that point.

My sister's neighbor moved and left their cat behind too, but at least the owned provided for it before they left by gifting it to a different neighbor. That cat used to hang out on my sister's back deck and basically became the neighborhood cat.
 
What horrible people leave a cat behind?! gaaaaah.

Your best bet is to probably take him/her to a shelter or to care for him/her yourself.
 
I don't get it. How could someone leave their cat, how much a bastard does that person (or the cat) have to be???
 
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