Cat keeps coming to our house but belongs to someone else. What should we do?

Cats
1

A local cat has decided to ‘adopt’ us. He constantly sneaks into our home, and we initially thought he was a stray because he refuses to go near his actual owners. The owners have collected him multiple times and asked us not to let him in or feed him, but he keeps finding ways to get inside. He tricks people into letting him in and even waits for us to come home so he can dash in. We’ve tried chasing him off, but he just comes back.

What concerns us is that he’s friendly with everyone but avoids his own home. The owners don’t seem to be doing much to prevent this, and while we aren’t looking to steal someone’s pet, we’re at a loss for how to handle this. Any advice for getting him to go home or discouraging him from coming here (without harming him) would be greatly appreciated.

2

Years ago, I met a guy whose family had a cat that brought all its toys across the street and eventually decided to live there permanently.

3

Zeph said:
Years ago, I met a guy whose family had a cat that brought all its toys across the street and eventually decided to live there permanently.

We had a family cat that decided to live with the neighbors too. Cats definitely pick their people.

4

If you’re planning on owning cats in the future, you need to get better at keeping them on the side of the door where you want them.

5

Why not offer to buy him? If they accept, get him chipped immediately.

6

Teo said:
Why not offer to buy him? If they accept, get him chipped immediately.

We’ve thought about this, but we’re not sure if the owners will go for it.

7

Indigo said:

Teo said:
Why not offer to buy him? If they accept, get him chipped immediately.

We’ve thought about this, but we’re not sure if the owners will go for it.

Start with $50, then go up to $100. They’ll think they got a great deal!

8

I pet a really social cat once, and it yowled outside my house all night wanting in. Its owners were just down the street, but it decided I was its new favorite human!

9

Sounds like the cat feels safer with you. Maybe offer the owners some money to officially adopt him.

10

Lennon said:
Sounds like the cat feels safer with you. Maybe offer the owners some money to officially adopt him.

The owners keep saying he just needs to come home, but we might have to make the offer at this point.

11

We had a similar situation with a dog. It kept coming to our house, and eventually, after the owner admitted they couldn’t care for it, we adopted the dog.

12

You might be in the UK based on some word spellings, so just be careful because laws differ. It might not be abuse, but the cat could just not like its owners for reasons we can’t see.

13

This happened with my grandma’s last cat. The neighbors didn’t care much for him, and eventually, they moved and left him behind. Maybe offer to take the cat off their hands?

14

Sounds like a super social cat. Enjoy his visits but don’t feed him.

15

We had a neighbor’s cat that would visit us all the time, and we eventually agreed with the owners to let him come over as long as we didn’t feed him.

16

Unless there are signs of abuse, you can’t really do much other than try to keep him out. Maybe call your local bylaw office if cats aren’t allowed to roam free.

17

EvansBrown said:
Unless there are signs of abuse, you can’t really do much other than try to keep him out. Maybe call your local bylaw office if cats aren’t allowed to roam free.

We’re doing our best to keep him out, but he’s getting sneakier and it’s harder to remove him without him getting suspicious. We’re trying everything to dissuade him without hurting him.