We had a cat come to our home full of fleas. We fed him outdoors. Got him dewormed and cared for him. We made him an indoor outdoor cat. After a year we put a collar on him. One day he came home with a note that basically said this was my cat. Take good care of him. We loved him his whole life.
Thank you to all the replies! Bella has returned back to our home and we’re going to do what we can to continue keeping her here. I’ll update this thread if anything happens, as of now we’re going to make sure she’s living her best life indoor!
FYI. If someone does come forward with ownership always demand proof of ownership. There are alot of Ill intent people out there. And these precious animals have no voice to protect them
While Bella may not like it, it’s important to keep her indoors for the sake of her kittens. Knowing that the uncaring “owners” are searching for her may mean they snatch Bella off of the street and then the kittens are in a life threatening situation.
I believe you should keep Bella, you obviously care and provide for her. But until you can get her spayed and chipped i recommend keeping her in a closed off area of the house so if your little humans open a door it won’t be to the outside. 🤭
You took her to the vet and have receipts showing you sought care. The cat was not microchipped. There is no way to prove that this supposed previous owner owned this cat. Legally she is your cat now and you don’t have to return her.
Wont the other owner have photos with the cat, and receipts from food, and taking the cat to other vets, previously? Legally isnt she property and other owner could show proof. (Microchips can fail, move around). But kittens make her hard to move currently.
If she wasn't spayed or chipped, the only previous owners bill would be for vaccines. But I don't really see an owner getting vaccines and not getting her spayed when she hit 2lbs.
It's kinda both. They need to hit a weight requirement to have anesthesia safely administered. But a specific age is easier for owners to bring them in by vs. having to weight them. I have experience with an animal shelter, so it's completely likely they do things differently than private practice.
That's about how old he was when I got him and set him up for the appointment. He's now over one his birthday was May 1st. He's been nurtured but he doesn't go out anyway. Where I live it would be too dangerous. Coyotes, bears, owls, eagles, and many other critters like fishers and wicked people.
The owner let her outside unspayed, allowing her to get pregnant when she was still a kitten herself. She has no proof the cat is hers and the kittens will need her to have the best chance of survival for at least the next 7 weeks. You have absolutely no obligation, legal or otherwise to give this cat back to her. She's very obviously an irresponsible pet owner if she is JUST looking for this cat now after she's been gone for weeks at this point.
She wasn't being properly cared for (she was outside, not spayed, and not microchipped), so the other people lost the right to her.
Microchip her immediately if you haven't already, and keep her as an inoor only cat. This will insure not only her safety, but your legal rights over her.
Keep the kitten. She’s going to get killed wandering around the neighborhood like that. Microchip her, and tell the neighbor she went outside and you haven’t seen her since!
been in a similar situation with an apartment parking lot cat. ran into the owner after the cat ran out, had a conversation about already going to the vet and a future spay appointment, then asked if she wanted the cat back. she said no and we went about our separate ways after helping me catch the cat
you can go that route, but if you've already had significant care for the cat and since it's not microchipped just keep it
In Australia, whoever microchips the cat legally owns the cat. To be honest, anyone can say anything about their history with this cat but without proof it's all just a story. The fact is, the cat was not microchipped and was clearly neglected given its pregnant state.
I don't care what the other person says. I'd talk to the vet about getting the cat microchipped and legally registered under your details. The "owners" shouldn't have any legal claim to the cat. I'd also keep the cat as an indoor only cat for future.
They waited how many months to actually act like they care? Get the cat microchipped, keep her indoors, get her sterilized. They can learn why we do these things the hard way. After a month where I am this is considered abandonment. It is also illegal to not sterilize the cats and dogs and illegal for the cats to free roam. Enforcement is actually a thing with reasonable nuance about cats door dashing and programs to help people with the cost of the legally mandated microchip. No microchip, rabies vaccine, and sterilization? You don't own the cat.
So look up your laws but the burden of proof of care here is with you and it's going to be enough for any judge if they ever went that far to go "Are you stupid or something? You put an unsterilized cat outside and didn't notice they were gone for how long?"
Ok. I understand indoor/outdoor cats. I can even kinda understand not microchipping. But NOT GETTING HER FIXED? Even indoor only cats should be fixed but letting her out and not getting her fixed? Absolutely not. That was a BAD pet parent. Eff ‘em. Your cat now. Take good care of her.
If she truly was a kitten, she might have been too young. They can get pregnant as early as 4 months, but some vets(like mine) wouldn't spay before 6 months.
But unless the kitten ran away before they had any vet appointments, keep her. But maybe don't tell the family you have her.
Very nice! And to be fair, mine was a cheap fix by the county because Orange County, FL had SO MANY stray cats, the county fixed ‘em cheap. Perhaps a private vet would have said she was too young? Idk. She’s 17 now, so things have changed A LOT I am sure.
This owner was being irresponsible by letting their unspayed cat roam. She directly contributed to the overpopulation problem we have by allowing this to happen.
If you get her microchipped I believe legally she’s yours! Sounds like she’s much better off with you anyways!
One of our cats walked into our house with us like she’d always lived here. She was scrawny, she was 10 pounds but scrawny looking I was shocked when the vet said her weight. She had a tipped ear and both ears were frostbit so off to the vet. Her tipped ear is only a quarter of regular size and the other is half gone. No microchip we posted on community pages and humane society pages and no luck. She’s microchipped with our name now and we keep our cats indoors. I probably wouldn’t have given her back if someone had told me she was theirs. It was freezing cold and raining when we got her.
Not getting the cat microchipped or fixed is so irresponsible especially since they were letting her out. Did the neighbour have her licensed? Otherwise they really have no proof it was their cat.
Keep the cat. Spay her. Fix all of the kittens and then get them adopted too. The “owner” of the cat is an irresponsible, uncaring, scumbag. You don’t leave your kitten outside to get pregnant and God knows what else, and put a flea collar on her so she could possibly hang herself! You owe this “owner” nothing. Do what’s best for the cat!
If owning this cat was important to them they would have microchipped her. Once you microchip her and register her under your name she is legally yours.
This is how we adopted one of my cats, neighbour did not care for her or look after her, no microchip so we took her in, she got sick with a stomach infection and we were the ones to get her to a vet and get her back to good health. Do not give up on the cat, take her to the vet and microchip her, keep all the receipts and you should definitely get her spade, they’re irresponsible for not getting that done and already having her be pregnant. She deserves a better life than wondering outside and not being loved!!
If you let your cat outside you can lose it for a multitude of reasons. If it got hit by a car you couldn’t ask the driver to revive it. If it ends up as someone else’s house cat that’s the owner’s fault.
The cat was not properly cared for, and found a better family. Who waits months to try to claim a cat that was not chipped or fixed? Let them take the cat after the kittens can be without her.
Hey my heart is torn at what to say. I could only imagine the feeling but please think. If you would feel horrible to not be able to keep the cat, how do you think the original owners feel. It's not like they wanna re-home her. She probably hadn't returned home after a long period and they got extremely worried and came looking for her. I'm not saying what your doing is wrong though because I would do exactly what your doing. But if my boy got out and I found out someone just took him in and wants to keep him I would be DEVASTATED
This ⬆️⬆️⬆️ i can't believe how many people are ok with cat-knapping someone's pet. How do they know if the cat got out by accident and got knocked up before they could get her fixed? There could be several reasons but that doesn't give them the right to steal the cat.
Make sure you give owner the vet bill so you get your money back and look forward to having your neighborhood over run with cats because these owners don’t seem to have any concern with over populating .
We had a cat come to our home full of fleas. We fed him outdoors. Got him dewormed and cared for him. We made him an indoor outdoor cat. After a year we put a collar on him. One day he came home with a note that basically said this was my cat. Take good care of him. We loved him his whole life.
Thank you to all the replies! Bella has returned back to our home and we’re going to do what we can to continue keeping her here. I’ll update this thread if anything happens, as of now we’re going to make sure she’s living her best life indoor!
Fantastic! Make sure to get her microchipped asap so that she's legally yours! :)
Good luck, and thank you for looking after her.
FYI. If someone does come forward with ownership always demand proof of ownership. There are alot of Ill intent people out there. And these precious animals have no voice to protect them
While Bella may not like it, it’s important to keep her indoors for the sake of her kittens. Knowing that the uncaring “owners” are searching for her may mean they snatch Bella off of the street and then the kittens are in a life threatening situation. I believe you should keep Bella, you obviously care and provide for her. But until you can get her spayed and chipped i recommend keeping her in a closed off area of the house so if your little humans open a door it won’t be to the outside. 🤭
You took her to the vet and have receipts showing you sought care. The cat was not microchipped. There is no way to prove that this supposed previous owner owned this cat. Legally she is your cat now and you don’t have to return her.
Agree. OP should also make sure to microchip the Mom Cat if not already done and get her spayed as well as kittens when it's safe to do so.
Yep! Get her chip and spayed, and try to keep her indoors, the kittens need her too
This!
Wont the other owner have photos with the cat, and receipts from food, and taking the cat to other vets, previously? Legally isnt she property and other owner could show proof. (Microchips can fail, move around). But kittens make her hard to move currently.
If she wasn't spayed or chipped, the only previous owners bill would be for vaccines. But I don't really see an owner getting vaccines and not getting her spayed when she hit 2lbs.
My kitten had vaccines before he was neutered. It didn't go by weight, it went by age. I don't know if it's different for females.
It's kinda both. They need to hit a weight requirement to have anesthesia safely administered. But a specific age is easier for owners to bring them in by vs. having to weight them. I have experience with an animal shelter, so it's completely likely they do things differently than private practice.
you can get them vaxxed once they’re 8 weeks
That's about how old he was when I got him and set him up for the appointment. He's now over one his birthday was May 1st. He's been nurtured but he doesn't go out anyway. Where I live it would be too dangerous. Coyotes, bears, owls, eagles, and many other critters like fishers and wicked people.
The owner let her outside unspayed, allowing her to get pregnant when she was still a kitten herself. She has no proof the cat is hers and the kittens will need her to have the best chance of survival for at least the next 7 weeks. You have absolutely no obligation, legal or otherwise to give this cat back to her. She's very obviously an irresponsible pet owner if she is JUST looking for this cat now after she's been gone for weeks at this point.
Microchip the cat. Keep her. Keep all the kittens and adopt them out to good homes do not return to these irresponsible people.
She wasn't being properly cared for (she was outside, not spayed, and not microchipped), so the other people lost the right to her. Microchip her immediately if you haven't already, and keep her as an inoor only cat. This will insure not only her safety, but your legal rights over her.
Keep the kitten. She’s going to get killed wandering around the neighborhood like that. Microchip her, and tell the neighbor she went outside and you haven’t seen her since!
been in a similar situation with an apartment parking lot cat. ran into the owner after the cat ran out, had a conversation about already going to the vet and a future spay appointment, then asked if she wanted the cat back. she said no and we went about our separate ways after helping me catch the cat you can go that route, but if you've already had significant care for the cat and since it's not microchipped just keep it
In Australia, whoever microchips the cat legally owns the cat. To be honest, anyone can say anything about their history with this cat but without proof it's all just a story. The fact is, the cat was not microchipped and was clearly neglected given its pregnant state. I don't care what the other person says. I'd talk to the vet about getting the cat microchipped and legally registered under your details. The "owners" shouldn't have any legal claim to the cat. I'd also keep the cat as an indoor only cat for future.
They waited how many months to actually act like they care? Get the cat microchipped, keep her indoors, get her sterilized. They can learn why we do these things the hard way. After a month where I am this is considered abandonment. It is also illegal to not sterilize the cats and dogs and illegal for the cats to free roam. Enforcement is actually a thing with reasonable nuance about cats door dashing and programs to help people with the cost of the legally mandated microchip. No microchip, rabies vaccine, and sterilization? You don't own the cat. So look up your laws but the burden of proof of care here is with you and it's going to be enough for any judge if they ever went that far to go "Are you stupid or something? You put an unsterilized cat outside and didn't notice they were gone for how long?"
Ok. I understand indoor/outdoor cats. I can even kinda understand not microchipping. But NOT GETTING HER FIXED? Even indoor only cats should be fixed but letting her out and not getting her fixed? Absolutely not. That was a BAD pet parent. Eff ‘em. Your cat now. Take good care of her.
If she truly was a kitten, she might have been too young. They can get pregnant as early as 4 months, but some vets(like mine) wouldn't spay before 6 months. But unless the kitten ran away before they had any vet appointments, keep her. But maybe don't tell the family you have her.
Oh that’s interesting. Mine was fixed at a certain weight. Not age. It was a long time ago, but she was about 3-4 months.
It's hard to weigh a kitten at home, so they just gave us a nice even month. 😆
Very nice! And to be fair, mine was a cheap fix by the county because Orange County, FL had SO MANY stray cats, the county fixed ‘em cheap. Perhaps a private vet would have said she was too young? Idk. She’s 17 now, so things have changed A LOT I am sure.
This owner was being irresponsible by letting their unspayed cat roam. She directly contributed to the overpopulation problem we have by allowing this to happen. If you get her microchipped I believe legally she’s yours! Sounds like she’s much better off with you anyways!
One of our cats walked into our house with us like she’d always lived here. She was scrawny, she was 10 pounds but scrawny looking I was shocked when the vet said her weight. She had a tipped ear and both ears were frostbit so off to the vet. Her tipped ear is only a quarter of regular size and the other is half gone. No microchip we posted on community pages and humane society pages and no luck. She’s microchipped with our name now and we keep our cats indoors. I probably wouldn’t have given her back if someone had told me she was theirs. It was freezing cold and raining when we got her.
Not getting the cat microchipped or fixed is so irresponsible especially since they were letting her out. Did the neighbour have her licensed? Otherwise they really have no proof it was their cat.
Why don't people microchip their cats?????
That is your cat. The person trying to claim her didn’t get her spayed and let her wander outside.
Keep the cat. Spay her. Fix all of the kittens and then get them adopted too. The “owner” of the cat is an irresponsible, uncaring, scumbag. You don’t leave your kitten outside to get pregnant and God knows what else, and put a flea collar on her so she could possibly hang herself! You owe this “owner” nothing. Do what’s best for the cat!
If owning this cat was important to them they would have microchipped her. Once you microchip her and register her under your name she is legally yours.
This is how we adopted one of my cats, neighbour did not care for her or look after her, no microchip so we took her in, she got sick with a stomach infection and we were the ones to get her to a vet and get her back to good health. Do not give up on the cat, take her to the vet and microchip her, keep all the receipts and you should definitely get her spade, they’re irresponsible for not getting that done and already having her be pregnant. She deserves a better life than wondering outside and not being loved!!
Please get Bella and the kittens fixed
If you let your cat outside you can lose it for a multitude of reasons. If it got hit by a car you couldn’t ask the driver to revive it. If it ends up as someone else’s house cat that’s the owner’s fault.
The cat was not properly cared for, and found a better family. Who waits months to try to claim a cat that was not chipped or fixed? Let them take the cat after the kittens can be without her.
Keep the cat. She chose you. That's whats best for her.
Hey my heart is torn at what to say. I could only imagine the feeling but please think. If you would feel horrible to not be able to keep the cat, how do you think the original owners feel. It's not like they wanna re-home her. She probably hadn't returned home after a long period and they got extremely worried and came looking for her. I'm not saying what your doing is wrong though because I would do exactly what your doing. But if my boy got out and I found out someone just took him in and wants to keep him I would be DEVASTATED
talk to the owner dont just steal the cat dude
This ⬆️⬆️⬆️ i can't believe how many people are ok with cat-knapping someone's pet. How do they know if the cat got out by accident and got knocked up before they could get her fixed? There could be several reasons but that doesn't give them the right to steal the cat.
Make sure you give owner the vet bill so you get your money back and look forward to having your neighborhood over run with cats because these owners don’t seem to have any concern with over populating .
So you are stealing someone's cat?