Anything on my property is fair game to spay or neuter. I’ve done it probably a dozen times across multiple properties. Most were feral. The ones that weren’t, once I could discern the owners were crappy, I didn’t ask permission. If it is on my property, they aren’t containing it and have no way to trace it back to me. Either they won’t care or they will be so freaked out that they will keep their animal inside. Honestly, in this situation I’d take the cat in, get it cleaned up, and rehome.
15 Likes
Here’s my rule: if I feed it, I fix it.
In fact, I just brought home the neighborhood tom yesterday from the vet! He was in the crate I keep for him on the porch earlier this week, and hadn’t been acting well, so I just shut the door and off we went. He got neutered, his shots, and a huge abscess behind his ear drained and cleaned.
And I can’t count how many of my neighbor’s cats I’ve spayed over the years. In fact, one of them moved in with me and a few years later the owner saw her in the yard and said, “Is that my cat? I thought she’d died somewhere.” I was like, “Nope, not yours.” *not anymore, anyway . . . * His wife gets pissed off at me (“God wants them to have kittens!”) but screw her. If God wanted them to have kittens, He wouldn’t have let them find me. 
So no. Name your new kitty, get him neutered, and enjoy! 
She’ll never miss him.
36 Likes
Yup, our rule of thumb, too, more or less.
We wound up with the crazy lady neighbor’s mature tom about a year ago. I’d hear her outside every. friggin. night yelling “kitty! Here kittykittykitty! KIT-TTTTTYYYYYYY” He rarely went home, instead he hung around our farm. He was skinny, covered in fleas and mites, his ears had enough dirt to grow a garden AND he’s FIV positive.
After two weeks of hanging around our place begging for food, he asked to come inside and decided to stay. Crazy neighbor lady called us a few weeks later asking if we’d seen him: I was happy to deliver that lie with a smile. He’s now a very content, lazy, neutered housecat.
15 Likes
Technically, if he has chosen to stay with you for a month and you are feeding him I would take him in and get him done. The lady may think he is her cat but if she isn’t feeding him or meeting his needs and he isn’t living there anymore, in his mind he doesn’t belong to her anymore.
He seems to have chosen you.
15 Likes
We are guilty of this. If a cat comes to our place unneutered, we take it home once, and if it returns, we take it to the vet. We always let the cats loose once they are done their pain meds, but they tend to stick around…although Harry (Gustav) does visit his old home time to time. Our vet doesn’t question it as we don’t have animal control for cats in our community and feral/stray cats are a big issue.
10 Likes
I say go for it also. My cat ‘Hobo’ started coming around one day a few years back. First time I met her, I was out riding in the neighbourhood, she was caught up in a wine bag of all things. Removed that. Then she showed up at my place one day covered head to toe in burrs. Removed all those. Then she started hanging out while i was doing yard work. Then one day she showed up and parked herself on my front porch beside the bag of cat treats. Never left.
Had kittens a few days later. I took care of momma and kittens, found kittens new homes with responsible owners. Got her spayed. She’s currently sitting beside me kneading my arm as i type this. She’s the best cat ever. I’m not a cat person either… but somehow over the past few years she’s even managed to gain a spot on the corner of my bed at night. She’s funny, vocal, smart as a whip, amazing mouser and plays with my border collie.
I know exactly where she came from, very unfortunate owners, the stories i could tell… they complained to another neighbour who kept catching their kittens and taking them to the humane society that they can’t keep cats cause they keep going to the neighbour’s places…
11 Likes
I’ve done this. And not even felt bad about it. I’m doing the cat and the idiot owner a favor. It’s your choice if you don’t want to fix your INDOOR cat but once you let it outside, it’s all our problem. And not vaccinating spreads disease and exposes even my vaccinated barn cats to risk. I have no problem “improving” conditions for someone’s outdoor cat if the owner won’t.
18 Likes
Well THAT DOES IT!!
For once everyone on COTH AGREES! 
47 Likes
This just in…Satan reports hell has frozen over.
29 Likes
Now what did you go say that for?
3 Likes
It is a rarity!
4 Likes
I would play dumb with the neighbors if they ask. They are idiots anyways! When my guy got neutered last year the vet did his stitches or whatever in such a way he didn’t need a cone. That is the way to go.
4 Likes
Farms all around me. One is neighboring. I chatted with her this spring, and we talked about how the cats just show up at her place (I have 10 barns cats from a local rescue group I volunteer for, so not many stay at my place). Seems her sister volunteers at a local hs. Not sure if she gets her cats spayed/neutered via her sister, but I did let her know that I just started trapping ferals in my barn and getting them spayed/neutered. She shrugged, said she didn’t care. Month later I caught a tabby tom, off with his balls (I didn’t ear tip in case he was someone’s pet, all I wanted off was his testicles) and released him. Thought I saw him at the farm next door with two 3 month old kittens looking like him. Haha! No more baby making for that boy.
5 Likes
Please tell me she wears glasses, in which case you should say Take those glasses off! God wants you to bump into tables!
15 Likes
Sadly, she doesn’t! She’s a bit of a freak - she refused to adopt a kitten from the HS because they microchip them. Lucky kitten, IMO. (She’s also, sadly, my sister in law, so there’s that.)
2 Likes
Well, darn, I knew I should have asked COTH before I lost my nerve! Pretty kitty suddenly appeared mid-winter. I’d see her a few times a week. Turns out she is living in my barn and now greets me every morning. No matter how many times she encounters the dogs, she seems to have declared mi casa es tu casa.
I asked around, no one knew or claimed her. She is friendly enough so I popped her into a spare room and made the appt. But guilt was niggling at me so I cast a wider net. The night before her spay, I got ahold of neighbor of neighbor. Young family saw a mouse in their house so brought in two kittens. One or the other started spraying a few months later, so kittens were kicked out. In January. Lemme tell ya, this cat wants back inside!
I asked if cat was spayed. “We were told cats that are trapped and neutered have their ear tip cut off, so we think she is.” Ummmmm 
her ears are perfectly intact. 
If kittens pop up in my barn next month, I’m delivering a box full of kittens to their doorstep and spaying the queen. In the meantime, I don’t want to open her up for nothing. At least boys make it known 
She’s sweet enough, but I could do without the cat crap stinking up an empty stall and dead songbirds at the back door. 
1 Like
Good luck with your kitty! I’ll admit I was hesitant to ask because lots of people see animals as property. In hindsight, I realize it’s pretty black and white. That sweet little ginger tomcat has no voice and is obviously not being cared for and ultimately he is suffering. How long before he loses the other eye because the life of an intact unvaccinated cat is violent and short ??? We used to have a wonderful low cost neuter program in my county. After researching I think it lost its funding. You trapped the cat and showed up on whatever day without an appt and off went the balls, and vaccinations. He’s pretty tame but I will have to figure out a way to make sure he’s around on the day I schedule an appt. Perhaps I can catch and crate him a day or so before. Thank you all for your insight and stories.
5 Likes
@ThreeWishes, definitely catch and crate early whenever you have the opportunity. First appt I had to cancel because the greet-me-every-morning cat was nowhere to be found the day before. It’s like they know ;).
If you have a larger dog crate, you can set him up in that for a little more room if it’s going to be a few days. But reinforce the door! Or crate inside a secure room in case he escapes the crate. “Your” guy sounds like he could use a break for a few days to rest and heal.
2 Likes
Thank you @Bicoastal! That makes perfect sense. I think the cat would be fine but I worry about my latest dog addition. I have a spare bedroom and a giant dog crate. I am going to upgrade this kitty’s life.
12 Likes
Good for you! And I love the very rare everyone agrees thread!!!
4 Likes
