Neighbor X Took Neighbor Y's Pet to Shelter. WWYD?

[endlessclimb]

@trubandloki

You must have missed the part where @Bicoastal said the owner put out another feeding station and the cat was gaining

From what I read, this is not a for sure thing. OP suggested that, but isn’t sure if the owner did it and that’s why the cat was gaining or if it was the other neighbor’s feeding.

Did I miss it?

[endlessclimb]

@Bicoastal

Neighbor Y created a narrative without ever speaking to the owner.

Do you need to speak to the owner, when the cat is covered (your words) in fleas and ticks, and skinny?

[cutter99]

@Bicoastal

I never said it was a dog . Does that change people’s perspectives?

I know Neighbor Y’s pet care and dynamics. Food, water, and shelter were always available. A heated area in winter. One pet would drive out the other, so this one got skinny. Do I treat my pets the same? No. But the care meets legal requirements and is how a lot of people with barns keep such pets.

Welcome to the country, where people have outdoor pets. Don’t feed them if you don’t want to keep them.

Yeah no, welcome to the country NOT!!!

I am as country as they come- farmer who lives on a one lane holler, in the middle of nowhere in the South! Doesn’t get more country than that.

Every cat and dog on this farm have feed, water, deworming and flea and tick control- whether they like it or not- including the 4 barn cats.

There is not an animal in this 2 1/2 mile holler that is treated like that. Heck, a neighbor back here died and everyone back here made sure his animals continued to get fed, and then were trapped, neutered and released, and 7 years later are still fed!

That animal got a HUGE upgrade and if you do not recognize that, you are part of the problem!

[Mosey_2003]

I understand the feeling of Neighbor X being new and stepping on toes, but also to my mind the only thing she did wrong was confessing to you. I also understand the way barn cats can roam and knowing where they belong, but if my neighbor’s cat was showing up to eat at my place looking very thin and covered in parasites, I’d do the same thing.

[Saskatoonian]

Huh, completely shocked at most of these responses. The answer to me is easy: I’d tell neighbor Y that I’d heard that the cat was at the shelter. No need to chuck neighbor X under the bus. I’m sure if there’s a problem with fleas/ticks the shelter people will have a conversation with neighbor Y about it.

I’d also silently thank neighbor X for letting me know what kind of person they are. The whole thing is very creepy.

[candyappy]

@Bicoastal

How many here have barn cats? That’s the situation. Pet had a traditional barn cat life. Spayed. Cat door to a tack room, heated cat house in winter, those gravity food and water things. It also had an a-hole roommate who bullied it.

Not a “traditional” barn cat life that I am used to! Sounds like they provided top- notch everything but a safe place for the cat to stay without being bullied.

My barn cats have a barn loft with hay bales , food and water and that is all. Oh and lots of love.

@Bicoastal sounds like you just need to notify the shelter of the cats owner and have them notify them. That way you can be guilt free.

Cats especially are good at changing homes when something about their current one is lacking. I acquired my neighbors cat when he just decided he preferred my home and I wasn’t even feeding him.

He started getting thin with ribs showing and I started feeding him and notified my neighbor, who said I guess he made his choice. I think their GSD was rough with him and he had enough.,

[Horsecrazy3]

Fleas and ticks can kill a starving cat, even a well fed cat can succumb to a flea infestation. What is creepy is not being bothered by the cat’s treatment, lack of food and flea control, by Neighbor Y. All my neighbors would take in a neglected cat and none of us would think anything bad if the cat ended up in the shelter. If you (g) can’t provide a safe environment for a cat or any animal to eat or provide appropriate medical care then don’t own animals.

[Larksmom]

this is happening to me right now. My beloved Dickens, whose picture I have regularly posted here before, has decided to up stakes and move to the next street over. He is well fed, has a comfy home and is greatly loved. He has gained weight in the last year, and has been spending more and more time away from here. I think, but do not know that he dislikes the new dog, who has not been a bother to him. It has been suggested here that if only we keep them inside. Well, on my local FB page, there are missing cats every day, and without exception, they are indoor cats who somehow got out. Now these cats are lost, and may or may not find their way back home. But cats that do go out know where they live. I am heartbroken that Dickens thinks life is better else where. I asked about him on FB, and someone said she thought she was feeding him. He came home the next day, stayed one day and left again, and hasn’t been back again. Cats, who knows?

[candyappy]

@Larksmom

I am heartbroken that Dickens thinks life is better else where.

Sometimes all it takes is the addition of another cat or dog or even a new baby. Anything that upsets life as they preferred it. Cats are funny creatures. At least Dickens is being fed and you know it and know where he is.

[Horsecrazy3]

Difference is that you are/had been providing a good home. Dickens is not starving or flea invested. You’re more than likely correct Dickens does not appreciate sharing his home with your new dog. It is heartbreaking Dickens prefers to be elsewhere. Cats are such independent souls. Have you been able to talk to his benefactors in order to stay in his life in case his situation changes?

[Angela_Freda]

My pets are microchipped.
And not covered in fleas

[trubandloki]

All I am going to say is that there are places that even with good flea and tick treatment, animals outside get them.
When I dealt with my vet trying to find something for my barn cat, my vet was not worried at all about ticks on a cat. I was shocked. She said that whatever we used would kill them eventually and ticks do not transfer anything to cats that is a problem.

@Larksmom, I am sorry to hear about your cat.

[Larksmom]

Only on FB and not positive it was actually him. Also complicating the mess is that when I got him about 8-9 years ago, he was chipped. I THOUGHT I had transfered the info to me. But on a trip to the vet a couple of months ago, I had the chip checked. No good info at all. No owner listed so even if someone checked, they wouldn’t get me coming up. I then put a collar on him, it lasted about a day. I saw him with his mouth caught in it and I was afraid he would break his jaw, so I took it off. I really only wanted to leave it on him long enough for the others feeding him to know he had a home. The person who responded said she thought she was feeding him with the ferals she fed. Funny thing, 25 years ago when I had carpeting, I spent $$$$ on flea and tick meds for 2 cats and 2 dogs. Always scratching. When I got rid of carpets, voila! no more fleas. Never scratch no ticks. Everything peaceful.

[Djones]

Tinnamous moved to our barn when there were more cats than he wanted to navigate. It happens, I’m just lucky to have space for a house population and a barn one.

[Djones]

We are taking “covered in F & T” at face value.

[Jackie_amp_Starlette]

Wow on the flea treatment of barn cats. I take in ferals. The kind you cannot get close to. They get fed, a warm barn with blankets, and a hayloft. And mice. And some birds. But there would be no way to get close to them to do any flea treatment without trapping them (if I was lucky to even catch them after being TNR’d and relocated to my barn). They would get vetted if sick or injured if I could catch them.

Some pretty tough opinions on here about what is good care and not taking on cats that would otherwise be euthanized. My cats are fat, content, healthy, and have a safe haven. That’s all feral cats really want.

[FjordBCRF]

@Larksmom

My beloved Dickens, whose picture I have regularly posted here before, has decided to up stakes and move to the next street over. He is well fed, has a comfy home and is greatly loved. He has gained weight in the last year, and has been spending more and more time away from here. I think, but do not know that he dislikes the new dog, who has not been a bother to him. It has been suggested here that if only we keep them inside. Well, on my local FB page, there are missing cats every day, and without exception, they are indoor cats who somehow got out. Now these cats are lost, and may or may not find their way back home. But cats that do go out know where they live. I am heartbroken that Dickens thinks life is better else where. I asked about him on FB, and someone said she thought she was feeding him. He came home the next day, stayed one day and left again, and hasn’t been back again. Cats, who knows?

We had this happen when I was a kid. When we moved to the country, we took a barn cat with us from the barn I got my horse from. Unbeknownst to us, she was pregnant and once the kittens didn’t need her anymore, she took off. We swore that we saw her at a barn that was a few miles from where we lived, but my dad said she probably wanted to leave and probably found a good home . I was bummed, but we kept all the kittens so that helped.

[Simkie]

@Jackie_amp_Starlette

That’s all feral cats really want.

This cat’s not feral.

[Rallycairn]

Yes. This. All of it.

[hut-ho78]

@Saskatoonian

Huh, completely shocked at most of these responses. The answer to me is easy: I’d tell neighbor Y that I’d heard that the cat was at the shelter. No need to chuck neighbor X under the bus. I’m sure if there’s a problem with fleas/ticks the shelter people will have a conversation with neighbor Y about it.

I’d also silently thank neighbor X for letting me know what kind of person they are. The whole thing is very creepy.

Neighbor X does sound creepy.