Ondine is probably correct and the unfeeling and ignorant neighbors and sorry excuse for human beings may indeed get another animal and begin mistreating it if you rehome this poor little cat---however, that is purely conjecture at this point and this little cat needs and deserves to be rescued from these people now. I would do what your sweet hubbie suggested and take the cat to your vet, have her spayed, immunized, dewormed and checked over and if she is healthy and you believe you can open your hearts and home to her I would take her in immediately. She should then become an indoor-only cat of yours and then how would your horrible neighbors ever know that you have another cat that just happened to look like the one they used to have? You say she is a sweet little cat--it's been my experience that when you rescue a mistreated or stray cat that had been abandoned and hungry they are very grateful and without exception were very happy to be in a safe and loving home with food, water, love and away from the former stress. My strays that I took in who always became indoor-only cats had no difficulty adjusting to being inside or in acclimating to my resident cats. I would recommend a slow introduction to your resident cats and it may be a non-issue that you feel your space is limited in terms of providing separate space for this little cat for other than a short period of time. My little girl who is now an indoor cat but was either semi-feral or feral and had never been socialized to other cats at the critical time of development as a kitten with a mother cat and litter mates is still extremely fearful of my resident cats even after a year of attempting a slow introduction---but that is not the case with your little cat you are thinking of rescuing. If you read my thread under the caring for feral and stray cats forum you can read what my experience has been with my little feral girl and the approaches I am instituting to restore peace and harmony among my cat family of three. But my little Nikita is the first cat that I have taken in either from the animal shelter, my vet's office or from the cat adopting me by crying for food on my deck that didn't adjust beautifully in a very short period of time. I don't think you will have any trouble at all with her adjusting to living at your house---she will be so relieved to be safe and cared for. Cats adopt us, they choose us and where they want to live, not the other way around..
If you want to make sure your neighbors can't cause trouble for you, contact either your local animal protection society, rescue group or county officials to see if you have the right to rescue an abused animal without the consent of the owner. I think you will find they will give you their blessing and thanks for helping the little animal. She should become an indoors-only cat and don't let the neighbors know you have her--they will think she ran off or was hit by a car, truck or killed by a dog. Do let us know what you decide to do and good luck---I think you will feel very good about yourself and will be able to sleep better at night knowing you helped a little animal who really needed help and you didn't ignore her plight.
I live in North Carolina and we have rescue groups who go in and "rescue" animals from cruel owners without the owners knowing or giving consent. They then rehome the rescued animal and I haven't heard of any of the group members getting into trouble over the rescues.
If you want to make sure your neighbors can't cause trouble for you, contact either your local animal protection society, rescue group or county officials to see if you have the right to rescue an abused animal without the consent of the owner. I think you will find they will give you their blessing and thanks for helping the little animal. She should become an indoors-only cat and don't let the neighbors know you have her--they will think she ran off or was hit by a car, truck or killed by a dog. Do let us know what you decide to do and good luck---I think you will feel very good about yourself and will be able to sleep better at night knowing you helped a little animal who really needed help and you didn't ignore her plight.
I live in North Carolina and we have rescue groups who go in and "rescue" animals from cruel owners without the owners knowing or giving consent. They then rehome the rescued animal and I haven't heard of any of the group members getting into trouble over the rescues.
