My scrappy kitty, Pyrenees

[ACG]

One of my cat's went missing a few months back. She is scrappy. Would often bring us 'gift's'. Come into the house to eat, hang out and then leave after an hour. When the weather went bad, she'd stay inside. She has a wonderful disposition and purrs all the time. We looked and looked. Checked all her regular sleeping spots. Asked around. I thouight coyotes got her.

Fast forward to Saturday, my doorbell rings. A woman appears at my door and announces that she is my neighbor, the street behind my house and a few houses over.

My cat is sleeping in her backyard and is sick. Neighbor swears they never let the cat in her house, but they have fed her. Salmon from a can. People Salmon. The cat is now sick, will I come get the cat. I say ofcourse, as soon as hubby gets home. (I had just gotten out of shower from 4 hour bikeride and was fresh out of shower).

So he goes to the house, no one is home. He goes into the backyard and the cat, comes running to him and our 11 year old. She purrs.

She was skinny, scrawny, sick looking, red eyes, and a funny rash. Vet says she has allergic reation to something, he thinks it is the people salmon. She is on four medications. She loves being home. We are glad she is home. She has already perked up and is gaining weight.

Would you speak to neighbor? What would you say?

I'm so happy our cat is home with us.

[PamNY]

I'm so glad your cat is home, and I hope she feels better soon.

It's hard to know what to say to the neighbor. Did she know your cat was considered missing? Some cats simply like to visit neighbors, and do so a lot. The neighbor wouldn't necessarily know the cat wasn't turning up at home.

I'd probably ask the neighbor to stop feeding the cat, and to notify you if the cat is spending a lot of time in neighbor's yard.

How do you feel about keeping the cat indoors? I let my cats go outside for years, but then decided that wasn't safe and kept them in. They adjusted very well. Indoor life for cats is a good thing, especially if coyotes are around.

[smilingcat]

I would thank her for taking care of the cat and thank her for letting them know where the missing cat was living the last few month. Also tell them that you've taken your kitty to the vet and he is getting better and putting on some weight. That way the woman who took care of your kitty can feel pretty good that he has returned to a nice home.

Do tell her that next time he visits and stays to give you a call so you can go and pick him up.

If there is a street behind your house, I would highly recommend to turn him into an indoor only cat. I realize it can be very traumatizing for the kitty to not go out but they eventually will get used to it. Safer for him. Not get hit by a car. Not get chomped by a dog racoon, nor get in a serious cat fight. Cats will kill each other if its a tom.

[thekarens]

I'm a little hard I guess. My feelings are if you don't keep your pets on your property it's your own fault what happens to them. If it's not the neighbor feeding them bad food it could be a dog or another cat or for that matter a bad human that gets them.

I'm sure the neighbors didn't mean to hurt your cat otherwise they wouldn't have told you about it. They could have stayed quiet or lied.

[Eden]

Some people are weird.... when I lived in a condo complex our upstairs neighbor had a cat door (from previous tenants - she was renting), but no pets. She'd leave the cat door so that it was unlocked from the outside, but locked once the cat entered. He'd get trapped in her apartment, then she'd complain that he came in....

[Owlie]

I don't know that I'd say anything, other than "If you see Cat spending a lot of time in your yard, let us know and don't feed her." I don't think canned salmon allergies would cross most people's minds, especially if they're not cat people. They probably thought they were doing the right thing by feeding her. (

[nuliajuk]

I don't think there's much difference between "people" salmon and "cat" salmon. (Most cats can eat salmon) If anything, people salmon is going to be higher quality. It's possible she might be allergic to salmon in general (has she reacted before?), or it's possible she ate something else that she found lying around. I had to stop mine from munching on a decomposing bird one night. She only goes out on a harness and lead, so if she was free roaming there wouldn't have been anything to stop her from finishing the revolting thing off - and probably puking it all over the house shortly afterwards.

[zoom-zoom]

I'm a little hard I guess. My feelings are if you don't keep your pets on your property it's your own fault what happens to them. If it's not the neighbor feeding them bad food it could be a dog or another cat or for that matter a bad human that gets them.

I'm sure the neighbors didn't mean to hurt your cat otherwise they wouldn't have told you about it. They could have stayed quiet or lied.

+1. It's the risk a person takes if they let their pets outdoors. We don't let our cats out at all, because there's a lot of scary stuff out there...wild animals, parasites, cars, the elements, jerky Humans, etc. And stray cats can do a real number on the wild bird population and spread disease, too.

People salmon is salmon. I think it's nice that they were caring for a cat with Human-grade food, personally. A lot of people do horrible things to stray cats. Feeding a stray takes heart. I would be inclined to thank them and take my kitty to the vet for a full work-up to see what could potentially be causing the health issues. My guess is something viral or parasitic.