Help! What to do with "our" stray cat?
April 30, 2012 9:27 PM Subscribe
Help! What to do with "our" stray cat?
My boyfriend and I have just moved from a house we rented for four years. There are several stray cats that live on our (old) block, and the friendliest of them, "Black Cat", has been around since the beginning. We think he may have an owner (or other houses he frequents), because he's fairly comfortable with people and tries to come inside when the door is left open. As we have several indoor cats of our own, he hasn't had the opportunity to do this often, but we have brought him in for a few days during the occasional winter snowstorm. We have fed him daily since he showed up, but we think there may be other people feeding him as well, because sometimes he disappears for a week or two at a time and doesn't seem particularly ravenous.
Upon deciding to move, we hated the idea of leaving him behind, but realized that he was probably much more attached to his territory than to us. As the house is a tri-plex, we asked our neighbor if he would continue feeding Black Cat after we left, and he was happy to.
Here's the catch: our landlords are in the process of finding new tenants for our unit, and they have now asked us to "get rid of" Black Cat, by taking him to an animal shelter. Apparently he was hanging around during the open house, and several prospective tenants are allergic to cats and were bothered by him.
Taking him to our new place isn't an option-- the neighborhood is very busy and full of traffic, so he likely wouldn't survive long as an outdoor cat. We can't have another indoor cat (we've already got three). He's lived on our block for so many years that the idea of taking him away from his home is heartbreaking-- especially to be confined (or worse, euthanized) in an animal shelter. I realize that we can attempt to re-home him to another place where he can be outdoors, but first, I'm trying to think of any other way he can stay in the neighborhood, while somehow keeping him away from our house. Or at least away from the front porch where we have fed him for so long. If he is somebody else's cat, we'd hate to re-locate him. He wanders around a couple surrounding blocks, so we're thinking maybe he could change his habits to frequent other houses instead.
Any ideas? What is our best option here?
My boyfriend and I have just moved from a house we rented for four years. There are several stray cats that live on our (old) block, and the friendliest of them, "Black Cat", has been around since the beginning. We think he may have an owner (or other houses he frequents), because he's fairly comfortable with people and tries to come inside when the door is left open. As we have several indoor cats of our own, he hasn't had the opportunity to do this often, but we have brought him in for a few days during the occasional winter snowstorm. We have fed him daily since he showed up, but we think there may be other people feeding him as well, because sometimes he disappears for a week or two at a time and doesn't seem particularly ravenous.
Upon deciding to move, we hated the idea of leaving him behind, but realized that he was probably much more attached to his territory than to us. As the house is a tri-plex, we asked our neighbor if he would continue feeding Black Cat after we left, and he was happy to.
Here's the catch: our landlords are in the process of finding new tenants for our unit, and they have now asked us to "get rid of" Black Cat, by taking him to an animal shelter. Apparently he was hanging around during the open house, and several prospective tenants are allergic to cats and were bothered by him.
Taking him to our new place isn't an option-- the neighborhood is very busy and full of traffic, so he likely wouldn't survive long as an outdoor cat. We can't have another indoor cat (we've already got three). He's lived on our block for so many years that the idea of taking him away from his home is heartbreaking-- especially to be confined (or worse, euthanized) in an animal shelter. I realize that we can attempt to re-home him to another place where he can be outdoors, but first, I'm trying to think of any other way he can stay in the neighborhood, while somehow keeping him away from our house. Or at least away from the front porch where we have fed him for so long. If he is somebody else's cat, we'd hate to re-locate him. He wanders around a couple surrounding blocks, so we're thinking maybe he could change his habits to frequent other houses instead.
Any ideas? What is our best option here?
(Ahem, and supply him with a collar if he doesn't have one?)
posted by vegartanipla at 9:42 PM on April 30, 2012
posted by vegartanipla at 9:42 PM on April 30, 2012
Tell the landlord it's not your cat, sorry.
posted by fshgrl at 9:46 PM on April 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 9:46 PM on April 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
Yeah he could be someone's cat, and feeding him like that has basically guaranteed he'll keep showing up. Get a collar and write a note saying something to the effect of "Please keep your cat inside! My landlord wants to impound him/her!"
posted by smoke at 9:51 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by smoke at 9:51 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
Definitely tell your landlord that he belongs to a neighbor, and you can't do anything about him. If he looks well-groomed, there's a really good chance he is someone's. I live on a city block where a lot of people let their cats roam without collars. It's easy to tell the difference between them and strays because 1) grooming and 2) friendliness.
posted by DoubleLune at 9:58 PM on April 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by DoubleLune at 9:58 PM on April 30, 2012 [3 favorites]
He might also be chipped. I assume an average vet or shelter would check that for you.
posted by Chekhovian at 10:30 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Chekhovian at 10:30 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
What about asking around the neighbourhood. First, of course, asking whether he belongs to someone. But secondly asking if anyone would like to be his new indoor home. If various people are feeding him, I bet they'd like the opportunity to be offered "first refusal" before he goes to a shelter.
posted by lollusc at 10:37 PM on April 30, 2012
posted by lollusc at 10:37 PM on April 30, 2012
Your landlord is seriously misapprehending how allergies work - unless you had a professional steam-cleaning and had the ducts cleaned and replaced all the filters, the allergens already in the house from your several indoor cats pose way more of a threat to those cat-allergic applicants than any loitering neighbor kitty could.
I like smoke's and lollusc's ideas. We had a loitering cat who totally tricked us into thinking he was a stray when he actually lived three doors down and just refused to stay home. It turned out everyone in the block knew old Franco. We would have broken a heart or two if we'd catnapped him, however well-meaningly.
posted by gingerest at 11:10 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I like smoke's and lollusc's ideas. We had a loitering cat who totally tricked us into thinking he was a stray when he actually lived three doors down and just refused to stay home. It turned out everyone in the block knew old Franco. We would have broken a heart or two if we'd catnapped him, however well-meaningly.
posted by gingerest at 11:10 PM on April 30, 2012 [1 favorite]
I would like to vote for pinning a note to his [maybe new to him] collar and, if that does not work, finding an inside home for him. Since he is friendly with people, he should have an easy time adjusting to being an inside cat. The life of an inside cat is much better than the life of an outside cat- the dangers to outside cats are many, not to mention the loss of wildlife and the mess that an outside cat can create in a neighborhood.
Since he's well groomed and friendly, he should have an easy time finding a home if he doesn't already have one. And don't worry about the cat adjusting- people move with their outside cats all the time. The cat will adjust.
posted by shesaysgo at 11:11 PM on April 30, 2012
Since he's well groomed and friendly, he should have an easy time finding a home if he doesn't already have one. And don't worry about the cat adjusting- people move with their outside cats all the time. The cat will adjust.
posted by shesaysgo at 11:11 PM on April 30, 2012
Yes, asks around the neighborhood, don't just abandon this kitty to the mean landlord to do what they want. I have had cats adjust to being indoor cats after living outside for many years. Make sure he has a home before you leave, or worry will haunt you. I know it would me, as a cat lover.
posted by mermayd at 4:55 AM on May 1, 2012
posted by mermayd at 4:55 AM on May 1, 2012
Tell the landlord that it's not your cat, and that it's not a stray -- it's somebody else's cat. In most places that I've lived, that gets the cat a certain degree of protection (although possibly only if somebody else is willing to step forward). If pinning a note to the cat's collar doesn't work, you may need to work with your neighbors and see if somebody is willing to claim ownership in order to keep the landlord from being able to claim he's a stray.
Alley Cat Allies is a great organization and might be able to help you; at the very least they should be able to connect you with a local volunteer who might be more familiar with how things work in your area.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:09 AM on May 1, 2012
Alley Cat Allies is a great organization and might be able to help you; at the very least they should be able to connect you with a local volunteer who might be more familiar with how things work in your area.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:09 AM on May 1, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by vegartanipla at 9:41 PM on April 30, 2012 [3 favorites]