So we found this cat... She staked out on our front porch one night and wouldn't leave. She looked hungry. We figured she was a stray. We let her in. She ate like she was starving. She seemed incredibly grateful. We named her "Mac n' Cheese." We love her. A lot. Our eight-year-old who is suffering from horrible depression and coping with thoughts of suicide has become attached to the cat. Having the cat in the house has become therapeutic for her. She is doing so much better with the cat around. She's healthier. She's actually sleeping for the first time in months. She is able to sleep in her own bed because the cat is with her. Her appetite is normalizing. She's okay. We are all incredibly relieved just to see her doing okay again, after so much hurt. This evening, the cat's apparent owner came to get her. She lives down the street. We were heartbroken. We gave her the cat, not really feeling that we had much of a choice. She held her by the s***** of her neck. The cat was clearly distraught, trying to get away from her, eyes huge and scared. An hour later, we found the cat sitting on our front porch, crying to be let in. So we let her in. The cat is currently asleep in my lap, tired and relieved and still a little shaken. She came running back to our house as soon as she could. Also... Apparently she's pregnant. At some point, we will have to reason with this woman and try to explain to her that this cat has saved a little girl's life, and that to remove the cat from the little girl's life could be an absolute disaster. This is going to be a very uncomfortable conversation. This is a very intimidating woman. I would love some guidance / input / reassurance.
Sometimes the practical is the only way to go. Offer her $50 for the cat. Tell her she can have a kitten for $0 if she wants. Why would this work? She's too cheap to get the cat sterilized, and another thing is she's too lazy to feed it. People like that need $50. Also, this sort of thing happened to me, 30 years ago. I was working on a car in my garage, when I found a young cat sleeping on the back seat. I shooed it out of there. Didn't give it another thought. When I was done in the garage, I went upstairs, and I found the damned cat, sleeping on the couch. So I went over and said hello, and asked it if it had checked out all the other places on the block, too. Being chicken shit, I cajoled my other half to ask the neighbors if they knew anything about that cat. No one claimed ownership. In fact, I think it was dumped at the end of our street, by some loser who also didn't get his cat fixed. So I fed the thing. He ended up being one of my very best friends, for almost 18 years. At the time, I wished I was that popular with humans. So maybe that cat is a sign from your Higher Power, or whatever you call it. Just in time to help your daughter.
From your story, it's pretty obvious that this woman is not too concerned about the cat, especially after losing it that she let it get away again. I can understand her coming to get it the first time, but wouldn't she be more careful after that? Technically though, this could easily become a legal matter. The cat is technically that woman's property in a way. Your best bet might be to take her to the vet, to get her checked out (especially if she's pregnant) and explain your situation. The vet would probably find someone else to direct you to (even if it may be the police). The last thing you want to do though is get into a confrontation with the original owner. I can certainly understand getting attached to a stray (both my cats were strays, one found wandering a barn up north and another dumped into my neighborhood on Halloween), but this cat actually does have an owner. So please do your best to be careful! Good luck!
I think animals , can have like a certain thing about them , some have incredible personalities and some are just well meh.. about 15 years ago I was living in a unit (australia) and I had spent most of my youth on a farm so it was difficult, I always had a budgie though, love those birds the way they chatter with the radio.. any way my parents eventually sold the farm due to ill health etc and bought a place in town and we talked about a place for me as I had been renting for about 10 years. We hadn't even looked at houses or animals but my mum saw this add in the paper , border collie free for good home, still have the add on my fridge! I went and met the owners who had sold their house to move into a unit and couldn't take the dog. His name was Ben and we connected straight away so he ended up at my parents place till I bought place of my own , he would sit on the lounge next to me, share my dinner , we'd have fights , like he'd want to go for a walk and I'd be like no leave me alone etc! he usually won though.. one day he got incredibly ill and took him to our wonderful vet and found he had like a leukemia but for dogs, after spending a crap load of money we got him back to full health.. he lived till he was 14 I think, I had him for 10 years, .. He eventually got mouth cancer and we had to part ways, he was at home on his favorite lounge.. :tears::tears::tears::tears::tears::tears: any way it was 2006 and now its 2016 ,not sure I can have another dog, might try a cat, my sister has never bought a cat, they always end up at her place some how, same with ducks in her swimming pool, or geese or parakeets etc ,they must spread the word or something about my sisters place!!
Well, this is tricky. How long was the cat at your house for before the owner came to get her? T Cats often choose where they want to live, so if this one wasn't very happy to see her "owner", ran away twice in short order and hasn't even been spayed, well... It does sound like she'd be better off with you. Yeah, I guess you could try explaining the situation with your daughter and just ask outright if there's any way the owner would be willing to let the cat stay with you.
This woman clearly doesn't care much about the cat. See if you can buy the sweet little thing from her, I'm willing to bet she'll take the money.
She was with us for two weeks before the woman came around to ask about her. She said she had been calling her, but we never heard anyone calling a cat, and obviously the cat didn't either.
She sounds horrible. I don't know how you'd deal with her, but if a cat isn't happy it'll just leave. I think if you didn't take the cat in, she'd move on and find someone else, so whatever happens, that woman won't have her for long, unless she keeps kitty inside. Taking her to the vets for advice is a good idea. I hope your little girl continues to get better.
Willa, I agree with the others that you should offer to buy the cat assuming you want to pay the money of course. Sadly pets are still classified as properties and if you cannot prove the woman has been abusing her cat, there is no legal ground for you to get the cat. However, it sounded like the woman was more or less indifferent towards the cat so buying it might be the easiest way out. You should consider adopting a pet for your kid though if you don't end up getting the cat. I volunteer at an animal shelter and have seen quite a few families coming in to get a pet for their depressed/suicidal children. It is very therapeutic if the kid and the animal become bounded.
Oh! I don't have any useful advice, but I hope it all works out. I'd probably offer money like another poster suggested. I wouldn't promise a kitten though. No reason to condemn another cat.
Since the cat belongs to someone else, this could turn into a legal issue. I would explain the situation and maybe set up a bargain if she's interested.
I agree with faustian's suggestion. Animals have a way of sensing when humans aren't alright, and they offer themselves to help cheer us up or calm us down, etc. I've found this to be true with our pets at home. Our African Greys sense when I'm in an irritable mood, and they act aggressive towards me in return. On better days, they are affectionate. Our dogs and cat follow me everywhere when I'm on a "low" day. They do extra cute things to cheer me up. Maybe it's just my inner animal lover speaking, but I really think animals sense when we're in trouble physically or emotionally. This cat was heaven-sent. Perhaps you could get the SPCA and Police involved trying to get custody of this beautiful soul. If the SPCA can prove that she's incapable of caring for her cat then they can get a warrant from the police and they can legally confiscate the cat, leaving you free to adopt her, kittens and all. Perhaps I've been watching too many episodes of Animal Cops :lol:
