She’s such a pretty mama. Took in all her kittens as well. I already had 2 cats now I have 12 😭 I’ve tried giving them away (responsibly) but no one wants cats… guess they’re mine. Oh well, more to love.

Hi, my Dads lives quite rurally, surrounded by feilds and about 10 houses all spread out. He has had a cat for 6 years, after the cat chose to come to him and his wife. It was persummed he was a stray farm cat, and was less than 1 years old. Since then hes a proper pet cat, in the house, loves him humans and food etc. A few weeks ago he was hanging out on the neighbours drive around 10am (cctv) and then vanished. Non of the neighbours saw him, nor did he show up on any cameras. He was gone for over a week. My dad and stepmum went litrally everywhere, every house in a large distance, did posters etc. Then miraculously he turned up on a neighbours wildlife camera, and then has been in my dads garden roughly every other night since. He does a lap of the house, looks abit thinner and skittish but generally well. My dad has left doors open, left food (which he has only eaten once), his beds etc, but he just hasnt come home...I'm finding it really bizarre. No one has seen him in the day, only on cameras around 2-4am. Why wouldn't he want to come back? He's acting like its not his house, but before he went missing he was there all day every day inside and out for 6 whole years. Its really upsetting for my parents as nothing changed in the house it was a normal day. Does anyone have a clue to this behaviour?

I have two esa cats who are around 13 years old. My apartment left a note on my door saying that there have been multiple complaints about cats around the property, and mine have to be inside now or outside on a leash. They're crazy if they think I can train 13 or old CATS to walk on a leash. I've tried, by the way. It doesn't work. So, my cats are confined to the house.

They have always been indoor/outdoor cats and they are DEPRESSED now. Meowing to go outside all day. The apartment says that cats have been killing birds, and while I guess it is possible that my cats are doing it, I just can't imagine these two old fatties are catching and killing enough birds for it to be a major issue. I'm mad because in my opinion it equates to animal abuse, and there's nothing I can do about it if I don't want to get kicked out.

Edit: Wow. I can't believe how common of an opinion it is that cats are an invasive species. Guys, their natural habitat doesn't include the word 'living room.' and as long as I'm in a suburban area, I don't think they're going to be affecting a farmer's crops. it absolutely is abusive to confine them if they don't want to be there. I understand indoor cats have no metric and therefore are content with their living space, but for cats who spent the formative years of their life roaming Californian brush, to be stuck in a small, dark apartment is absolutely a hardship to them. If you believe cats are an indoor species please never get a cat. 'It puts them in danger' and yet every other animal manages to live long enough outside to avoid extinction. Let me reiterate that they are 13. They have survived this long, and so I don't think the danger is as poignant as many would like to assume. They might not have human intelligence, but they're not effing morons. And you want to talk about what is bad for the enviornment--cats--and about what is bad for cats--cars--and fail to recognize the flaw in your reasoning: namely that a contrived major environmental hazard harms a natural minor one, and, quite against reason, you advocate for the removal of the minor hazard.

Well, if someone wants to explain their reasoning without insinuating I am somehow harming the world by allowing outdoor animals to participate in natural selection, please do so. Otherwise I'm not interested in hearing more about this categorically false assumption about what having an outdoor pet infers about your moral wherewithal.

Edit 2: also, please stop being rude. The cats belong to my sister and I, and our mother got them registered as ESAs after a close family member died. And, 'how can they be esas if they're outside all day?' Well, one, they are not outside all day and that is a strawman's argument (do better) and two, I would argue that a clinically depressed ESA cannot adequately do their job--namely emotional service. They are not toys and their needs cannot be ignored. They are used to being outside because that was their life for a very long time until I moved away from California. Therefore, they are now depressed at being stuck inside. It's pretty simple. They have not brought a dead thing to my door in years, they're old and fat and sweet and like to go lay in the sun. I genuinely do not think it is them doing it, but even if it is, go arrest the hawks next, why don't you? Because that's what my landlords are threatening. They're threatening to arrest animals that are unaccompanied. Also, yes there are other animals in the complex, yes there are 'bad' cats that I know of that rip up window screens, and yes, this is a blanket rule.

Shes still too small for most harnesses, ergo the sock, but so far she dosent hate it. Dosent even try to take to off or fight me putting it on. She actually dosent mind it much at all. She runs around plays, poos & and pees, naps, whatever with it on. And only attacks the leash when its in her face. So shes doing wonderfully for a baby. Shes also getting pretty well desensitized and handling loud noises and our dogs with ease. (Dont worry were not leaving the yard anytime soon, just dont want to accidentally loose my lil baby)

I need to move my cats they are adult cats from where they have lived for the last 5 years and I know it's not recommended but it's what I have to do . I need ideas . I know that cats hide out for the first 30 days so my thoughts were to build something for them at my mom's move there, because where they are at right now that person threatens me with them tells me they are dead and am afraid they are not being free but is it a good idea ?

Hi! For anyone that has an indoor outdoor cat, what’s your setup when you go out of town? If someone comes to let your cat in and out, how often to they come by? What do you tell them?

Idk why but I feel at a loss!

Any tips helpful. I stay at home full time so during the day I just let him in when he comes to the porch and stares at me through the window and we let him in around bedtime. He stays inside most of the night until the wee hours of the morning usually.

We will have someone dropping in daily not staying at our house with him.

Hi, so I found a cat with a collar on her thinking she just ran and got outside. I read her collar it says on her tag she lives her life outside in the apartment complex I live at. The phone number on the tag has not responded to texts and calls

Due to unexpected life circumstances, I will be moving in a couple months. I have two 4yr old indoor/outdoor cats who were born in this house. I would like to find a place in which they could continue the life they are accustomed to however, it being a new environment and territory, I am worried they might try to make their way back to the familiar area. If I am not able to find a place suitable for outdoor access, I am worried about how that will impact their behavior and such if they can’t go outside any longer.

I am stressing a lot about this and I would appreciate any advice and experiences.

I have two indoor/outdoor cats. One of them came inside a few days ago and had a hole on his leg. It was very round, not very deep, perfectly circular. He had licked away the surrounding fur, there was no blood, and it looked clean.

Today the other cat came inside with a similar wound on his leg. It's round but much deeper and wider.

Could they be BB gun wounds? We live in a very small neighborhood, they don't stray too far from us, and everyone we've talked to adore the cats. But i can't think of what else would make such a circular wound?

My indoor cat has been missing for 4 nights and 3 days. I did all the usual things I was recommended to do by shelters and the internet: keep the doors cracked open, leave food and water out, leave some of my clothes outside, leave his litter box outside (some told me not to do that but we don’t have any raccoons or other animals in our area so I decides to try it). We searched for hours around the perimeter in all neighbors porches, grills, cars, and scoured the woods across from our house and up trees. I even rented a thermal camera to see if I could pick up his heat signature.

I set up security camera in the front and back of my house. They have picked up on 3 outdoor cats that have all come by to check things out. Once I saw the first one I moved the food inside and his litter box, but still kept the door cracked in case my cat decided to slip in the middle of the night.

Well last night, one of the more bold cats that we’ve caught on the cameras about 5 times now came INSIDE of our house and walked around last night while we were sleeping.

I’m so scared this is going to deter my own cat from coming home due to this outdoor cat hanging around. Any suggestions? Do we think my cat will still try to return home?

Hi all.

TLDR at bottom.

My cat has been stuck in a neighboring roof since yesterday morning around 5am (10 october).

I know he's in the house because of his GPS collar. it's been moving around in there so i'm sure the collar hasn't come off near the house.

The owners of the house live in singapore and haven't been home since May, I've been in contact with a friend of his, who's number i got from a neighbor, who lives about an hour or so away and he isn't very keen on helping. He has told me that the house is alarmed and the alarms would trip if a cat was in the house, so I assume he's in the roof

Tomorrow i'll call local council and the police non emergency line to see what help i can get, if they won't help i'll call the friend and offer him money to come out and let me look in the roof.

Any other suggestions, anything similar happened to anyone? Any help is very greatly appreciated 🙏🙏

TLDR: my cat is trapped in the roof of an unoccupied house and i can't get in touch with the owners, what can I do?

My kitty Jinx (just turned 1) knows to come home at 9.30pm. Think it was an accidental training thing when I wasn’t feeling well and started new medication. I had to fast from 10pm to 6am in the morning so locked him in for a couple of weeks at half 9 so I could go to bed.

Now he comes in at 9.30pm or a little bit earlier. I noticed this a couple of weeks ago, but started logging his times, always just around the right time too. I know cats are smart but how do they know the time? Instinct? so I logged the past couple of nights cause my bf didn’t believe me 😝 he has been coming in at 9.29pm, 9.18, 9.26pm. Clever kitty 🐈‍⬛

Any one else’s kitty do the same?

I have to thank you all for the time apollo was lost for 3 weeks and he came back.

I just had a run in (if you can call it that) about my cat Ancho on Facebook where someone assumed that she was perhaps abandoned by my mom––who my cat is close to and comes down to a park with her. I was just wondering if anyone else had a similar experience, and how you responded. (Picture of her there)

Hello,

I moved about a month ago and brought my outdoor cat. She has been living inside for the past month so that she can adjust and realize this is home now, but she really wants to go outside. She waits by the doors and tries to slip out. She meows at the doors and scratches at them too. We have a catio that she can access but she doesn’t seem to like that. Recently I have started taking her out in the morning and evening on a leash which she somewhat enjoys. She gets frustrated when I don’t let her go where she wants link under neighbors cars and in their backyards. I’m considering letting her be indoor/outdoor again where she can come and go on her own terms but I don’t know if I should or where to start… This neighborhood also has a fair number of outdoor cats that I’m worried she will fight or be attacked by. She wears a collar with her name and my phone number on it as well as a GPS tracker, but she’s very good at losing it (breakaway collar, tracker holder breaks, etc.).

Should I let her back out? How would I do that safely and ensure she knows this is home now?

If I shouldn’t let her out, I worry about her getting bored in the house. I try to play with her but I work out of the home most of the day and I obviously sleep at night when she is most active. Are there any tips you recommend for reducing boredom inside?

Thanks!

I found a cat outside who followed me home that does not want to come in whatsoever. Got her fixed up with shots, a spay and a microchip. She didn’t have a microchip and was pretty beat with ear mites and fleas and very pregnant when i found her and posted her on multiple local forums as a found cat, and also knocked on neighbors doors and no one claimed her. Worried about her being outside and not really sure what to do. I have a whole area set up on my porch but she likes to cross the street and greet people on the sidewalk which leads to kids trying to lead her away or manhandle her the way kids do by picking her up and messing with her. Would a collar deter people from messing with her? Im not concerned about people hurting her intentionally because everyone is really nice where i live but then that turns into worrying about someone keeping her. I tried to bring her in a few times and she really hates it and cries to go back outside and my senior cat doesn’t like her much. I am not sure what good a collar would do though. I have a warm insulated house set up with water and food and all that so she always comes back but cant help but worry. I am a responsible cat owner with my indoor cat but she is stressing me out because i like knowing my pets are safe. Any advice please let me know and please dont be rude im trying my best to keep her healthy with her being outside lol

Hello, I’m wondering if anyone has a story about an indoor/outdoor cat that was timid and so never went very far. Always came inside throughout the day and rarely stayed out over night. If our cat did happen to sleep outside it was always on our deck and she came running first thing in the morning.

Anyways she must’ve snuck out at some point in Saturday 9/26. Right as a nor’easter was hitting New England. On Sunday morning when we couldn’t find her we immediately started doing everything you’re supposed to do. It sounded so possible that the storm scared her and she hid close by and would pop out eventually. We have searched at dawn and dusk. I live in a dense section of about 75 acres of woods. I did circles starting 800’ away from my house and working my way in. In that radius I only have 3 neighbors. One I was able to search her yard, one we left a flier for and an empty house that had been empty since my neighbor passed away a year ago. We’ve left clothing outside and food. We have cameras and a human trap. We’ve alerted everyone we can. And we’re still waiting.

ChatGPT has told me that she is likely close and will pop out soon but it feels so unlikely that a cat that knows our house is warm and full of food would continue to stay outside when nighttime temps are dropping into the 30’s.

Does anyone have a similar experience that ended up with their cat returning? It’s not a situation where my cat is traipsing around an urban or suburban neighborhood getting fed by strangers.

Starting to lose hope.

A new tortie kitten has arrived - unsure if male or female, but no ear clip yet. She'll let me pet her head, but not for too long. Also not sure if this one is old enough to get spayed or neutered? So adorable, with that little squeaky meow!

My cat is indoor / outdoor and my neighbor told me she got in a fight and got her gps collar off. I am at work and a nervous wreck. Should I leave and go check on her? Or can it wait about 4 hours until I’m home?

I‘m going in vacation tomorrow and am already so stressed out about leaving her and having my neighbor let her in / out! Having an outdoor cat gives me so much anxiety :(

Lottie on Patrol looking for squeakers to menace

Problem/Goal: I need practical advice on how to temporarily and safely house 3 outdoor cats in a restricted family compound, or how to find trustworthy temporary fostering/rehoming options in Metro Manila before their current shelter gets demolished.

Context:

• Current Setup & Hazard: I am a college student living in a family-owned house (relatives/grandmother's house). Right now, 3 of my cats stay on the roof of our guardhouse. However, the guardhouse is scheduled for demolition very soon

• Space & Pet Restrictions: Cats are strictly not allowed inside the main house. Additionally, there are 7 dogs in the yard that are not friendly toward cats, making the ground area extremely unsafe.

• Long-term Plan: Moving out on my own with my pets is a goal I am actively working toward, but as a student, it is not feasible in the immediate future. I strongly prefer not to permanently give them up if there are alternative solutions, but their immediate safety is my top priority.

Previous Attempts:

• I have tried keeping them elevated on the guardhouse roof, but that will no longer be an option once demolition begins.

• I have looked into moving out immediately, but my current financial and student situation does not allow for a quick relocation.

• I have asked friends/family friends already and they are not interested.

I know this is long but please bear with me, trying to provide context for why this is such a volatile situation with my neighbors.

I live in a very urban area, on a street with single family homes. We are between a train and a busy major road. Our city also has a very aggressive and large homeless population who will torture and kill stray animals (without going into detail, I know this through my job). There are also loose large dogs in my neighborhood regularly. Most concerningly, we have a serious coyote problem across the city, and pets are regularly killed by coyotes. Coyotes will be on the street in broad daylight. I found one of the street cats killed by a coyote while walking my dog at night last year. My across the street neighbors have always had a female cat with no collar that hangs out around their home and yard. They have 2 dogs that live inside, one is an unneutered husky who occasionally gets loose and runs into my yard.

I started interacting with this cat probably 4 months ago. She would be hanging out on the sidewalk in front of her house and I would pet her on my way to the train and coming back from the train after work. She started taking a liking to me and getting excited when I would come around. I also got introduced to some of the occupants of the house this way. We had very friendly interactions and would chat or say good morning as I petted the cat. They told me she was a stray that started hanging around their house about 4 years ago, so they started feeding her. At that time she never wore a collar. Note that I never at any point went into their yard, this all occurred on the sidewalk which is city property. Additionally, the cat always had a clouded over, enlarged eye. I've never owned a cat so I wasn't sure what the deal was with her eye. She doesn't seem old so I thought it was odd.

The cat would roam around the street daily so she started coming to my yard and waiting on my porch, often in the morning before the people in her house would get up. I would go have my coffee on the porch and she would sit on my lap and get petted. Then when I left for work I would either just leave her in my yard, or a few times I would pick her up and deposit her into her own yard on my way to the train (I'd rather carry her than have her cross the street alone, people drive crazy). My husband bought a few cans of wet cat food at the grocery store one day because he apparently thought she was a complete stray? I explained that she does get fed at the neighbors house. But then we just had cat food we had no other use for so I put a little bit on a paper plate maybe 3-4 times a few days apart and set it out for her (not a full can, I would split the cans and refrigerate the rest in between). Apparently you aren't supposed to do this with outside cats but I didn't know at the time.

A bit after I last fed her, two of the neighbors (including an older woman who is evidently the mom, I had never seen or met this woman) came over and yelled at my husband while I was at work. The cat was chilling in my driveway, I had been at work for at least 6 hours at this point (I was working 10-12 hours days at the time, not home except for early mornings and nights). My husband tried to be friendly and cordial (I watched multiple times on the ring camera) and they maintained an aggressive tone and said I was "disrespectful" and trying to steal the cat. One of them said "what if we tried to steal one of your dogs" and at this point my husband pointed out that our dogs live entirely inside so this comparison did not make sense. They took the cat and went home, of course she was back a few hours later when I got home. The next day she was wearing a collar (no tag).

The cat continued to visit daily and I would just pet her out front, no feeding. One weekend day she came and sat on my lap while I was reading. As she was sitting, my neighbors were all in a car that drove by and started yelling at me out the window and calling me "cat thief" and saying I was feeding her. I just said, no I am not feeding her she just comes here. They drive off and so I decide I'll write them a nice note explaining that I have stopped feeding her, and she just comes here on her own. However as I was writing this, cat sitting several feet away, the car came back 15 mins later and the older woman and her husband were the only occupants. She got out and came to my porch and started screaming at me. Both my husband and I were more polite than we should have been and I kept saying, hi I was just writing you a note, can we have a conversation about this? She just kept screaming random things for probably 10 minutes as I tried to de-escalate. She said I stole the cat off her porch? I did firmly say that never happened. Eventually she tried to grab the cat and it ran from her behind me. I ended up going inside and I think she did grab the cat after that and left? I never gave them the note, there is no point. My plan after that was just to call the cops if any of them came in my yard again, but we've had no interaction for probably 2 months.

So I started having my coffee in the backyard where the neighbors can't see me. Of course the cat comes every day to hang out with me. She is there like clockwork and if I wake up late she sits and waits for me. I have her a little hammock thing and a few toys back there, and I give her fresh water twice a day. I have never seen a toy at her house, she didn't know what to do with them for a while but now she plays regularly and asks me to play. I don't think she gets enough water at home because she is thirsty when she comes over. I brush her and clean her face daily, including all the discharge from her bad eye. She is truly the sweetest and cuddliest cat I have ever met, and she tolerates perfectly being cleaned, picked up, etc. She sits in my lap every morning and makes biscuits on my robe and will even rub her face against my cheek. One time it rained and I found her soaked and freezing hiding on my outdoor shelf, I made her a shelter with a heated blanket and dried her and warmed her up. We live in a hot area so she wouldn't be too cold in winter, but we sometimes have heat over 100 and I always fret about her and put ice packs in her mat outside.

The issue I am posting about is her eye. It has been getting worse and more swollen over the past few months. She can't see out of it at all. I have been trying to figure out how I can help with this. First of all I think the eye is probably beyond help and needs to come out. It's so bad and she can't see out of it at all. If I thought drops or something would help it I would just sneak her in for an appointment early in the morning and get them. But I can't exactly get an eye removed without the neighbors noticing and losing their shit.

I don't think she gets any kind of vet care whatsoever, she has clearly had a flea once or twice so I don't think she's getting basics like flea and tick meds or vaccines. Her collar came off at some point and they didn't bother replacing it (it never had a tag anyway so not sure what the point was). I thought the eye was severe glaucoma, but recently I spoke to someone who used to do cat rescue and she said it's a virus or infection, that could spread to her brain if left untreated. That really freaked me out and I feel like I have to do something now. I know I could just stick her in a carrier and take her in without issue, she's very chill.

I have basically unlimited budget here (and I know my neighbors definitely do not). I will pay whatever is needed for this cat, I love her. But I'm not forking over several thousand dollars for eye surgery and then leaving her outside as coyote bait. If I get her a surgery she's coming to live in my house and be safe, full stop. But I'm afraid this is going to cause a situation where my neighbors may resort to physical violence and harassment, and try to hurt my small dogs. She's being medically neglected at this point, and I would be justified in reporting them to animal control, but I don't want her to end up in a kill shelter.

What do I do here? I'm at the point where seeing her eye causes me so much anxiety every day. I can't let her suffer like this, she is such a little angel. I have included pictures over time of the eye (it's nasty in earlier pictures but now I clean it every day so less crust).

This is my buddy, TabbyTom. He showed up in early spring and was totally feral, I tried to win him over for many months with zero success. One late night two weeks ago I noticed him watching me through a window, so I tried to feed him- and contrary to every time prior, he came right up to me and even licked food off my fingers. A few days later he shoved his face into my hands and demanded pets, and now we're friends. I am hoping to trap and TNR him, and may be able to surrender him to the local shelter before the worst of winter hits.