Hi Reddit, this has really been getting me down lately so any and all advice welcome.
A bit of back story: last year a beautiful cat started appearing in our garden. She started visiting daily and would sit on our windowsill looking into the house and wait by the back door for someone to come into the garden. She was very timid but it was clear she was desperate for love, so we started feeding her and stroking her whenever she came by. After several months she grew in confidence and started coming into our house. It was really lovely to see her turn from such a shy little thing into a much more self-assured cat.
At the start of 2020 we had fully fallen in love with her, and were 100% ready to adopt if possible. I grew up with cats and so am very used to having a little feline companion around. I know how to care for cats and was ready to take on the responsibility of adopting one of my own. With this in mind, we decided to take her to our local rescue centre to see if we could find out if she was microchipped. We had long suspected her owners were no longer in the picture as she was always in our house or garden and didn’t wear a collar. However, when we took her into the rescue centre we discovered that she wasn’t only microchipped, but that the owners lived on our street. The centre contacted the owners to see if they still lived there - they did - and so they took the cat back home.
Later that same day I received a call from the owners who asked me about the cat, “where did we find her, why did we take her to the rescue centre etc.” I explained everything; they were very rude on the phone and said they would have to keep the cat inside from now on to stop her from visiting us. I was heartbroken. I had fully accepted at this point that she had owners, but to not even be able to see her anymore? I was crushed.
A couple of days later however I saw a little fluffy silhouette outside our back door... and it was her! She was back! We decided to no longer let her into the house, just to feed her occasionally and give her love whenever she visited. By this point we were in full lockdown due to COVID, and so I was working from home whilst my husband was on furlough. Essentially we were in the house 24/7. Every day we’d see the cat; if not in our garden then sat on the roof of a neighbour’s shed two gardens down. We started to suspect this was the owner’s house. Essentially, she never seemed to be in their house. Whether because she didn’t want to be, or they just weren’t letting her in, I don’t know.
In the mid-late summer we realised she had fleas. We waited and hoped the owners would treat her, but after a month I couldn’t stand it anymore and we bought flea treatment of our own. After a couple of uses she was flealess and happy again. By this point we had decided to start letting her into the house again. It was clear the owners were not giving her the attention she needed, and so we fed her and loved her every day as much as we possibly could. Given the way the owners spoke to me on the phone I was fully expecting them to contact me again, telling me to leave their cat alone. She would even spend hours sat in our front window, so we even thought they may see her and knock on our door, but we never heard from them. Now it’s nearly Christmas, and she has been in our house or garden every day and night. Whenever we let her back out she’ll head straight to the shed a couple of gardens down. We always keep an eye and ear out to see if they call for her or let her in but they never do.
Last week our landlord contacted us to explain that his financial situation was so bad he could no longer afford to be our landlord, and we wound have to vacate the property in the new year. This in itself is a whole other story, but details aside, we now were looking at the prospect of having to say goodbye to the cat we had grown to adore. The more I thought about it, the more painful it became. The idea of us leaving her here without her understanding absolutely shattered me. When I say this cat loves us, I really mean it. She responds to the nickname we have given her and is the friendliest thing you’ll ever meet. Absolute worlds apart from the cat we first met.
So now we’re considering our options.
Option 1: we contact the owners and ask to buy her. I am uncomfortable with the idea of reaching out to them given how they spoke to me previously, but I could never just take someone else’s cat to a new house - especially as she is microchipped with their details.
Option 2: we contact the rescue centre again and explain the situation; how much we love her, how it appears the owners really do not care for her etc. and ask for their advice, or ask them to contact the owners.
It is possible the owners have moved away and left her, but again we need to be sure. Even if we are unable to adopt her ourselves, I want to be certain she will be in a home where she gets the love she deserves, and I really can’t be sure she’ll get that love from her current owners.
With Christmas around the corner and having to house hunt with so little time, the prospect of losing or leaving our furry friend hurts so so much. I had a breakdown last night about it all. I cannot and will not leave the cat here without doing something. She deserves a good life, and she deserves to be loved. Being able to adopt her ourselves would be the very best option, but given the complex circumstances I just want to be sure whatever the outcome is the best outcome for her.
Please, if anyone has any advice or guidance I would be so grateful. Any ideas on next steps, or perhaps how to approach the owners would be amazing.
Thank you.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ke59mu/looking_after_a_local_cat_but_moving_house/
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