For the record, @Djones someone else exaggerated my words to “covered in fleas and ticks” I said:
And actually that was me exaggerating. It has ticks, so I assumed it would also have fleas.
The shelter’s photo of the cat is heartbreaking. You guys really think a plain adult cat will be adopted? It’s competing with a constant influx of kittens. I will cross my fingers and toes. I’d love to think of the cat laying across the back of a couch in a sun beam. 
Does the original owner know where the cat is? Are they going to claim or adopt it? If not, neighbor X should. Maybe they can even let him be an indoor cat. According to the cat, his new owners dumped him at the pound. He chose them. They probably still have some canned food…
I don’t understand this indecisiveness. It’s not my nature.
The options are as follows, with room for snacks and naps. Some can be combined.
Go adopt the cat yourself and return it to its family and tell them what happened.
Do nothing at all.
Continue to harangue us for not seeing it your way. We’re irrelevant, by the way. “We” at Coth don’t have some inherently higher standard of care. We’re just a wad of randos.
Tell neighbor x that you’re not cool with what they did and why.
Tell neighbor y that you saw that cat on the site and see what they do.
Etc
Make a decision. This peanut gallery won’t have to live your life after said decision. You will.
So what are you going to do?
Here’s my thing. Don’t start feeding an animal that you have no intention to keep feeding it. What did they think was going to happen? That’s just as infuriating to me as the original owners story.
Yes. This. A lady that borders the property I used to board at started feeding a couple of our barn cats that wandered her way. She would bring them back (400 yards or so) in a box about once a week, and then be all huffy when they would reappear before she could even get home.
Lady, if you don’t want the cats, don’t feed the cats. There’s food at the barn for them, they will come home when the gravy train dries up at your place.
So am i. And i am sorry that @Larksmom is STILL calling him “her beloved cat” and saying she is heartbroken that he moved out. If she’d truly loved Dickens she would have gotten rid of the new dog as soon as she figured out he had driven Dickens away.
Poor Dickens. I hope he is truly loved by his new people. I hope his heart is not breaking.
Then go adopt the cat and bring him home with you and let him lie across the back of your couch in a sunbeam. And never invite his former owners over for tea.
Or let his first owners know what happened to him so they can go get him and take him home or give him to you because you really like him.
This post brings my to this- when you know better you do better!
You provide your animals with proper care- food, water, appropriate vet care. If you cannot do that, don’t take them on!
Did you have a stressful day again or something?
She did not say that the dog DID stress the cat, so good job twisting that.
@Rackonteur, not nice, but then again I don’t think you intended to be nice!
Maybe step away from the keyboard and reevaluate what you say here! You have certainly not been making any friends lately!
At any given time there are two or three strays running through here. I’ve asked about neutering someone else’s cat before too.
I think the one neighbor is an ass for telling OP what they did, and putting her in the position of worrying about what to do now, when really it’s not her problem and shouldn’t have been made her problem.
As far as what to do, tell Y you hear the cat is at the pound. Unless you actually go and see the cat you do not know this for a fact. X could just be one of those dramatic and unreliable people that throw out threats, untruths. Bear in mind Y may never go get the cat, either, and then try your darndest to keep out of it.
I had 14 cats and kittens, half of them pretty feral, at one time here, taming down the kittens slowly, and then a family death put me in a position where most of them had to go. The chickens had to go too, between that and getting a reliable pet sitter for the ones that are left it’s been enlightening, and in a not very pleasant way.
you can really be a pain in the butt.
Check on the SPCA the cat went to and see if it’s really a no kill shelter. Also, see if the cat is actually there. Neighbor X lured the cat, got rid of the cat somehow, then pulled you into it. Why? That is not normal. Neighbor X has no credibility. SPCAs are sort of stand alone. The one in my area euthanizes fighting animals such as pits and game cocks and when overcrowding is unsafe and they have exhausted shipping animals to distant shelters. I don’t blame the SPCA (or other kill shelters). They do phenomenal work. I blame the owners who won’t fix their pets and the owners who fight animals in pits. With the Post Covid Pet Dump after the Covid Great Adoption the shelters in this area are full and the pets have no where to go because other shelters across the country are mainly full.
The issue with barn cats and responsibility reminds me of the Great Kitten Summer of 2022. 
Owner moves and leaves 3 pregnant, feral, barn cats behind (two were semi-feral). They asked for two kittens from us. We did right by the kitties, but made zero effort in saving two kittens for them. It never came up, but I had no intention of perpetuating their version of cat care. The kittens would have never been spayed or vaccinated. Sure, they provided shelter in the winter and low grade cat food, but since that didn’t meet my standards, we looked for indoor homes for the 14 kittens.
If they had reclaimed and collected the cats right after we moved in, fine. They did not. In fact, they had told us they were taking two with them before closing, but then changed their mind the day we arrived. Once we brought those cats in and cared for them our way, once they had names and a vet record, they were ours. That means we got to choose where the kittens would go.
Had I been in Neighbor X’s position, I would have asked about who owned the skinny cat that I saw coming by and, knowing me, visited the owner to ask more details, such as age, spay or neuter status, and vaccination status. Sometimes, you can nudge people into the right direction, if you aren’t overly confrontational. If you want to take over care, yes, you can be more confrontational. Hey, I’ve got kids/livestock and I want to make sure your outdoor cat doesn’t turn up with rabies, there’s a low cost clinic, do you mind taking your cat there?
The the way Neighbor X handled it was horrendous. They made friends with the cat for six months, essentially taking over the care, but did a lousy job by not vaccinating or providing flea meds, and then abandoned the cat at the pound. And people wonder why cats at the pound look depressed.
Funny you mention it.
We were looking at houses( a farm) when we needed to relocate and the one we ended up buying had a cat in the house when we saw it. I noticed at the time the cat had a flea collar.
We bought the place, moved in and in a few days my cat was literally covered with fleas( as were we)!!
We ripped up all the carpet immediately, had the place bombed and lived flea free on subflooring until we got new laminate down. It was awful. I think my parents had that same experience once.
That is the only time we have ever seen a flea on any of our cats or dogs ( indoor or out). It seems like if you have them , you really have them…
Technically he wasn’t yours…in reality he was
He felt love. These guys deserve love and respect. They are not disposable garbage.
You’re right. I tried to do what was best by him. Truly.
I miss him. Some friends laugh at me that I neutered and vaccinated a cat that wasn’t mine. Cost me $500. Worth every penny. Not trying to post a ball picture lol. Just one where this crazy yellow cat claimed my porch.Aw!!! 
He looks like the kitty that adopted our household growing up. His house was next door to us. He would sneak into our house and then once in would visit for a few hours. We never fed him. He just wanted company 
He was a character.
I look at the wall he tore to shreds and miss him. Haven’t fixed it yet.
Bottom line is I would not hesitate again to give an animal an upgrade from their POS owner. People are stupid. They think cats are disposable. Kittens shouldn’t be neutered or vaccinated. Let them fight to survive. Put that cat on a space ship if need be. Get it away from anyone who thinks it’s okay for cats to be unaltered or flea ridden. Barn cats included.
And also sorry no. Feral cats can be dosed with capstar. Wrapped in a pill pocket. Zero excuse for flea ridden. Trap them after.
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