Outdoor owned cat trying to move in with me

FunfettiSquid

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A couple months ago, my neighbors and I noticed a very young adult cat hanging around the alleys on our block and were able, with the help of food, to get close enough to see he had no collar, no eartip, was not neutered, and was out at any and all hours. I volunteer with TNR at the local shelter, and I was able to trap him. Someone claimed him out of stray hold the next morning, and a day later at most he was out wandering again - at least after this he was neutered and wearing a collar, but his name and phone number were written on it in ballpoint pen and already illegible. The neutering part is absolutely great, but he's now seemingly decided my rowhouse is his home. The upstairs neighbors have a young son who loves him and whom he loves. They play and snuggle together on their front porch. He visits my own cats through the ground-floor screen door and windows and is quickly becoming best buddies with them. He and my cats will be hanging out at the window late at night when I go to sleep and he'll be waiting again when I leave for work at 6 AM. If I open the door too far, he walks right in. Other than the food back while trying to trap him, I've been sure to try not to feed him, although I do give him a few pets when he runs up to me on the street. I am actively trying not to entice him over to our place, but every day he's here more and more. I already have two cats and am definitely not looking for another. Also, it's going to get colder soon, and I don't know if his owners ever let him inside or not - I could build an outdoor shelter under our front stairs, but if he already has a place to go inside, that would just be more unnecessary incentive for him to leave his home. There are really not any outdoor/feral cats in the neighborhood, so he's kind of all of our first experience with this situation. Anyone have any advice/
 

Cat McCannon

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Find out who the owner is and tell them you don't want their cat coming into your house and ask then to please keep him home. Tell the new owners that you saw their cat barely escape being run over by a lorry and keeping him inside would be safer.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. You don't mention, is he microchipped? If he is coming to your home repeatedly, he is not getting what he needs at his 'current' location. He could be a cat that was dumped and is looking for a 'real' new home. If I understand your post correctly, the 'owners' preyed on the fact that someone else would handle and pay for the neutering. Did they pay anything to 'adopt' him. If you actually paid for the neutering and any other associated cost, you could claim rights to him - maybe not for yourself, but if your upstairs neighbors are willing to accept the cat for their son - you could "give" him to them.

This cat would appear to deserve better than what he has got. I would pursue his safety from that angle.
 

fionasmom

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In my experience with strays and ferals, any cat fitting the description of the one at your property does not have a secure home. Cats, even outdoor ones or TNRed ferals, will hang around their home if that is the place where they are fed and have minimal shelter. My guess is that these so called owners believe that cats can subsist on any mice or birds they catch and have let it go at that. He is way too attached to your house and apparently stays there, possibly through the night.

Any cat who has "asked" for help from me by trying to walk in the house or running up to me hoping that humans meant that food was around has not been well cared for. Do you believe that he is even fed regularly?

Since you work with cats at the local shelter, I think that you need to pursue this to see if he could be rehomed.

"Owned" can be very loosely used with cats and I can think of a few incidences from my life where so called owned cats were entirely uncared for.
 

moxiewild

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I would try to reach out to the owners before doing anything.

Attach a note to his collar asking them to contact you and go from there. Hopefully the conversation will give you a better feel of what his home situation truly is.

Than you for doing TNR and for caring about this little guy!
 
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