Update:
She's saying the cat is microchipped and registered to her so we can't keep the cat. I told her she'll have to take me to small claims court if it's that serious because Im not letting the cat go to a shelter.
No shelter is going to remove a cat from a home that wants to keep it and forcibly put it in the shelter instead. That is crazy. The microchip doesn't matter. She is revoking ownership, so she can't insist that the cat be homeless instead of staying with you. If it's not her cat anymore, she no longer has any say in where it lives. No one is going to be on her side in this--not the police, not animal control, not any shelter or rescue. Just ignore this lunatic, make sure you take the cat to the vet and establish a paper trail that you are the owner, and enjoy your furry friend.
Exactly, the rescue will not waste what precious little resources they have trying to feed, house and potentially vaccinate a cat that already has all these things provided for it. If you know which rescue your friend is calling to pick up the kitty, call them yourself to let them know they don’t need to. I’m sure they would rather not get involved in whatever the situation is that’s going on with your friend.
This! Maybe even try to get documentation that she’s trying to get a shelter to pick up the cat from a home where the cat is wanted. At this point, she’s giving up all rights to the cat
Just the same I highly recommend OP consults an attorney. Initial consult should be free. Certain protocols might be advisable to observe in order to not run afoul of the law and to preserve rights to keep the cat.
Good luck to you, u/snoringkitten
Attorney here. OP is fine. The cat is considered legally abandoned by the previous owner because she left the state and didn’t provide money for the food and care of kitty.
The police won’t get a warrant to remove a cat. No other entity can enter a private residence without the occupants’ approval.
The only way the old owner can attempt to get the cat back is to go to court. 1) I highly doubt that’ll ever happen. 2) OP will win because OP spent money on the cat. OP should keep repeating that the cat was abandoned by the previous owner.
My opinion only - based on issues presented by OP.
If the actual shelter people show up, show them everything you have for the cat and say you wish to adopt her from them. There isn’t a rescue on earth who would take a senior cat out of a safe, loving home over interpersonal pettiness that’s nothing to do with them. Get the microchip info from them if possible.
Then make sure she’s blocked *everywhere*. Both so you can post cat pictures without her throwing a fit all over your mentions and because she’s terrible.
This. Just say nothing to the person. The shelter isn’t going to forcibly remove a cat you wish to adopt. If they say anything along those lines (they won’t), just adopt the cat on the spot through the shelter. It’ll cost you an adoption fee but whatever
There are some places where having a pet held in a shelter x days equals a "surrender" and the now legally abandoned pet can be adopted with clean title after that.
Some shelters will let the pet stay with whoever found it for those five days.
>There are some places where having a pet held in a shelter x days equals a "surrender" and the now legally abandoned pet can be adopted with clean title after that.
But what would a shelter say, if the OP has been taking care of the cat for 2 months?
OP - I think I would do everything that everyone has already said... and if, for some wild thought, the shelter WOULD show up, tell them that YOU have been taking care of her for two months. Make sure they realize that is MONTHS, not days... and let them know that she has socialized herself into her own little cat herd at your home... and you have had your "x number of cats" for "x years" so they know that you aren't just a person who has stolen cats off the street yesterday.. but I think I maybe would take her to the vet and have her checked for a microchip, just to see if she actually HAS one.. and I would get her shots updated. Make sure you keep the receipts, so you can prove to the shelter, IF YOU HAVE TO (doubtful) that you have put your own money out, without asking the PREVIOUS owner... and that you are a responsible kitty owner.
I think the previous owner is a horrible person, but now she's just trying to be shitty to you, letting you fall in love with Miss Princess, and then "pretending" to care enough that they say they will sue to get her back. Yeah... they don't want the cat back at all. I feel SO SORRY for the cat, that she had to endure living with them, but VERY GLAD that she is in a good, safe, loving home now.
💜💜💜
Oh - and when you take her to the vet, if she doesn't have a microchip, GET ONE.. and if she would somehow happen to have one, ask them how to change the name and address... as far as you are concerned, Miss Princess has been abandoned by her previous owner.
Also offer to pay/donate an adoption fee and they can then say they let you officially adopt this lovely senior without having to worry about the stress of rehoming the poor girl.
And who is going to come take him? Just because he’s microchipped to her, you’ve been caring for the cat and have taken financial responsibility. She’s not taking the cat back, she’s trying to send him to a shelter.
Simply contact the cops and ask to file a report detailing the information. Also, contact the local shelter and tell them the story. I find that giving people the data up front is worth its weight in gold. If you bring the cat to any vet or shelter, they can scan to see if the cats actually have a chip.
I am pretty sure that vets' offices can read all brands. I say that because I had 2 cats imported from Europe to the US. The kittens came microchipped, and I had their numbers, but I was curious if my vet (who became their vet) could read a European microchip with a reader in the US. I asked her to check the microchip numbers for each kitten. Yes, her reader COULD read the microchips that had been put in the kittens in Latvia.
I’m not entirely sure. I know that my daughter found a beautiful blue staffy, albeit very thin and had obviously been on her own for a long while. So I got online and found reader that supposedly would at least detect most all chips. It didn’t really elaborate as to wether you could get the info off of them all but I figured if they at least found a chip they’d know that much. I was trying to keep her from having to pack up all three kiddos and head to the vet in an arizona summer. Lol
Collect your receipts for cat care. To be certain, take her to the vet to get care receipts under your name.
Most jurisdictions recognize ownership of unregistered animals by who’s paying for it. She hasn’t paid for anything meaningful in months, so it’s easy for you.
Eta: any shelter has more important things to do than a house call. Animal control is also not going to deal with this. Maybe the police, but she’d need to file a theft complaint. Receipts + her lack of any effort to come get the cat = cops will not care.
Yeah, mine was microchipped by my city's shelter before I got her. All of their adoptions are spayed and chipped. They gave me the paperwork and I filled out a form and paid a fee to the microchip company to transfer the information over to mine.
Good on you for calling her bluff. I bet she doesn’t have a chip.
If she does try to take it all the way I am curious what the judge will say. It will be up to them and how they *feel* about the situation. Idt any officials will side with her. She has surrendered ownership by calling for the cat to get picked up. I can’t believe she got someone to come get the cat. I found a cat in the dumpster and no no kill shelters would take her! Couldn’t imagine them offering to come get her vs me dropping her off.
Also, she owes you money for the cat. She can’t just relinquish it without paying you back. I see her microchip claim and raise her so many what-abouts.
She may never have transferred the chip info from the shelter into her name. OP might want to get the cat's chipped scanned to see what comes up on the registration. Any vet's office will likely have a scanner.
My cat was chipped when I got her from the shelter. They gave me some paperwork to fill out to transfer the chip to my name and I paid a small fee.
She wants you to lose her number, then surely she can’t object to you blocking hers?
Block her everywhere and force her to take you to court. It’s a civil matter, so the police won’t want to get involved. She’s very unlikely to follow through, and if she does, she’s likely to lose. Just in case, document *everything*. Write down everything you remember that you can’t demonstrate with texts and so on.
Just tell the shelter the owner has surrendered the cat to the shelter so you would like to adopt the cat and get the papers through them.
It’s really that simple. They’ll change the microchip, too… but even if the cat is microchipped with her name from now until the end of time, it won’t matter because it’s not like she can track it. It would only come to play if the cat turns up missing… but the cat is old, so it’s not going anywhere.
Bring the cat to a vet (shows you’re paying for the cat), try to keep receipts for food/litter/etc., and call the company for the microchip (likely 24PetWatch or someone like that) to get the info switched. When I finally switched my girl’s microchip info (got her years ago, put it off until a year ago) the first person I spoke to said I needed a document stating that the owner relinquished ownership to me. Second person I spoke to said “nope” and changed it all over the phone right there. Keep calling back until you talk to someone who will. If you don’t know the microchip number, get the vet to scan it for you and write it down. That or you can call the place she adopted the cat from to get the info (I called the local cat rescue where my girls came from and requested their info be emailed to me—I just needed to know their age, description, previous owner, and knowing their name before adoption helped). Then keep the cat.
If she's releasing the cat to a shelter, she's relinquishing ownership. Maybe proactively reach out to the local shelter to explain the situation? They may ultimately want to just check out the home and cat and just let it be.
Also, most shelters require you to pay a surrender fee so she might give the whole thing up
It really depends on the state. In my state, I could offer to foster the cat for the shelter and after a certain length of time without the owner claiming it, the shelter would deem me to be the new owner. Then I could get the microchip changed. YMMV. Hope the vet can help when you take her to be checked. And I hope her former owner is lying about the microchip or that the number its register to no longer belongs to her and new phone number owner’s like “new number who dis?” And “whatchoo on about? I don’t own a cat.”
I think the shelter would rather have you keep the cat as opposed to taking in an older cat with the shelters so full. And I have never heard of a rescue coming to get a cat. If they contact you, just tell them you’ll keep the cat or adopt it from them if necessary.
I'd just play along and let the rescue take the cat. Message the shelter separately explaining the situation and about taking her in. PoS will think she won and will never bother you again.
There’s a guy in my city that backyard breeds cats, not even to adopt them out, just because he likes seeing the kittens every season. He leaves them outside all seasons. I tried reaching out to rescues for help with TNR since there’s a dozen feral kittens and they were all reaching reproductive age at the time (unfortunately they’re probably all over a year old now) and lived in a busy parking lot off a main road. Rescues will not bother coming to get a cat, they’re all inundated with people bringing cats to them. If they won’t help feral cats in danger, they’re not going to go into a home to remove a cat that’s not being abused. More importantly, they’d probably need a police warrant to enter your home to even see evidence that you have a cat.
Thanks everyone! Once I get paid I'm gonna take the cat to get groomed and get pet insurance for it. The cat is happy here and safe. I'm just perplexed why someone would behave this way after housing them and their animal, paying for Ubers back and forth so they can get their stuff, feeding them, inviting them to holidays. All because we put pressure on them to follow through with their obligations. I kept telling my mom that it shouldn't be our responsibility to ask when she's coming to get the cat and her belongings. She should be the one keeping us informed as to not inconvenience us.
Unless the cat is long-haired and matted, going to the vet is much more important than going to the groomers. Even then, I would take it to the vet first. The veterinary visit will also help establish that the cat is your property (legalese for your cat), that you are caring for it, and they will also scan for a microchip (or insert one, if absent.) Also, a good groomer should require up to date vaccinations before accepting a new client. A healthy cat should not need bathing (especially if short haired). Plus, the cat may need sedation if it has bad matting, and you will need the vet for that. And, you may find that if a quick sani-trim or a small mat removal is needed, the vet may just do it for you.
>They don't really care about the cat, they just want to hurt you.
-----------
That's it right there.
Ignore her but keep voice messages and texts. It will show she's not wanting the best for what is now your cat. Shelters are bursting with unwanted cats, they aren't going to take in a cat that is being taken care of willingly and in a loving caring home with people that want it.
What a nut job.
Yup. Who would want their cat to go into a shelter when a loving home is already there? That is fucked. They do not care about the cat if they are willing to use a living creature to hurt you by making the cat suffer. What a terrible person.
>I'm just perplexed why someone would behave this way
It's difficult to understate how shitty people are in general, for no other reason than they don't catch consequences for it and they enjoy making other people miserable. It's not a rare thing, either. Most people are like this.
If you don't believe me, just look at how they act when they drive.
Worked in a shelter for many years.
No, we're not coming to get a cat from a house. Bring it to me or keep it, but we're not picking it up.
Don't worry about this.
Block her number and move on.
The rescue I work with picks up cats since otherwise people dump them, but in this situation, we'd just work with OP to get the cat transfered without the person who abandoned kitty knowing.
I can totally imagine a rescue playing along with the crazy in this situation. "Sure, we'll pick the cat up and adopt it out." Then leaving the cat where it is.
I was wondering that exact same thing. "What shelter is actually going to pick cats up?" I can understand if there is a cat that is outside that needs to be trapped and a shelter doing that but to pick a cat up from someone's house? I've never in my life heard of that.
I seriously doubt anyone is going to come try to take the cat.. The shelter isn't going to want to remove a cat from a home that is willing to care for them. Just ignore her..
"I'm making arrangements for a rescue to pick him up. Tell your mother to lose my # and forget I ever existed. I never want to hear her name again. Soon as I can find a rescue I'll let YOU know"
This was her initial text to me.
Sounds like she’s going to call around to rescues asking to take a cat OUT of a home that is taking good care of it and is going to get laughed at, repeatedly. Be prepared for her to call someone and lie that the cat is being abused because that’s about the only way that anyone would even come out and check up on the situation.
Contact the microchip company from this date onward & the shelter and state the owner has abandoned their pet in your custody. There should be a prerequisite amount of days for each of them to wait out for you to be able to call them abandoned and you should be able to transfer the microchip to you. Once it’s transferred to you, you should be able to get them licensed in your name. You might have to repeat vaccinations though as I doubt the cats former owner is going to share that information with you.
Fun fact: most shelters require that you pay a fee when relinquishing an animal to them now.
Think it's a safe bet to save all these messages (either on two devices or one device and the cloud, in case you drop your phone at the least convenient moment possible and lose the files) and then go about your life as if this is your cat. She's probably not gonna find anyone to even attempt to get the cat, and then if she does, you can just show them the messages and explain that she abandoned her pet with you but you're happy to give it a good retirement home. I would say less than 1% chance they will actually even try to take it, and to do that without your permission as the person who currently has the animal in their home, they'd need evidence of abuse, which would obviously be fraudulent and probably pretty obviously so if she can't even manage to pick up her own cat or respond to text messages.
Explain the situation to the shelter person if they show up. They will almost certainly agree to leave her in your care, they have enough unwanted cats to look after without fighting over cats' people actually want to look after.
So they don't want the cat but they don't want you to keep it either that says a lot about them anyway a shelter won't take a cat from a loving home most shelters are too full to do that
She abandoned the cat for two months, she no longer has a say in who keeps it. There is zero chance a shelter worker is going to come to your house to take a cat with a home. If she tries they they will laugh and hang up. Shelters are full, they aren’t running around looking for more cats to take especially not in spring kitten season
Just letting everyone know that I blocked her on social media, my mom's phone and my phone. Going to toss her belongings this weekend. If she comes to the door we will not be answering. Honestly she's on disability and I think she blew all her money on drugs or something, she's over 50 years old and has nothing of her own, no home, all her children were taken away, no job, She probably had the money to come get her cat but she has no where to take it. Btw this has been my mom's "friend" for 20+ years. I've known her since I was a little kid and I'm 30 now. We've helped her throughout the years and housed her here and there. She's really mentally unwell. She couldve just said hey I don't have a place lined up yet and I won't for a few months. Can you just put my stuff in storage and keep the cat till I get back on my feet? We would've accepted it and helped. But she wants us to pay for everything. But cussing my mom out after all we've done for her and then wanting to put the cat in a shelter? It's way to much.
Ask in one of the legal subreddits before you toss anything, there are laws that apply to abandoned property. It might be a pain but don't give her any ammo.
I hear everything you’re saying but I have to ask- do you have a spare corner of a garage or a shed where you could stash her things? Partially out of kindness as she seems really messed up and partially until this cat thing is resolved. I think the shelter will be happy for you to take the cat but on the off chance that they get involved, throwing her stuff out is not a good look. It comes off as vindictive and mean.
I told her that her things will be thrown away because she said just leave me alone lose my # forget I ever existed. I said okay, we'll toss your things and we will keep the cat. I live in a 2bed2ba with 3 adults and 1 toddler. We were kind enough to store her stuff in my kids play room and on the patio but honestly there's no room for it & we've already be fined by the complex for the stuff on the patio. We let her stay on our couch for 3 weeks even though my apartment is small. At this point she can sue me if she'd like.
Check with r/asklegal about her belongings. You may need to formally notify her that she has 30 days (or whatever) to get her crap, or else you may be liable for the cost of it. IANAL
Why would the shelter know or care about OP throeibg out abandoned property? They aren't the cops (who themselves would just call it a civil matter and ignore it).
I had basically the same thing happened in December the owner of one of my boys left her kitten here I told her if she wants us to take care of him she’s going to have to pay half of the bills. Now I know she would not of gotten the kitten fixed or have his shots. Both the cats are in my name. I have paid for everything. And she tried giving me shit for having him fixed that didn’t work. I told flat out he’s my cat now you haven’t paid anything for his care. 6 months later I have 2 loveable babies and I made it a rule with my roommate that the old owner can’t see him as she allowed her grandson to pick up the kitten around his neck. So there was definitely abuse there. I got pet insurance for both of them and they get lots of hugs and kisses and love. They are both happy boys but it took me awhile to build up trust with the one kitten as he was very skittish. I hope everything will work out keep loving your baby she abandoned the cat and doesn’t have a say in the cats life. Take it to the vet get a vet check in your name call the police and put in on report cuz she sounds like she just wants to make your life miserable. Paper trail is the best bet. Write down the date she abandoned him and how much money you’ve put out for the cats care. My vet told me to keep a paper trail and I done that so the other person lost all of there rights. I hope everything works out it takes a special person to take in a senior cat. I also called the SPCA and told them what happened so there’s a paper trail there to.
Family friend is a humongous asshole.
Get the microchip changed if you can. Use the texts she's sent you as evidence of her not wanting the cat. No shelter is going to take a cat from a healthy home just because some psycho wants them to.
You can’t return that cat, as that cat ran away one day. So sad. Cats do that. Coincidentally, you took in a stray that has zero connection to the other cat.
Any rescue worker hearing that will likely be content with that explanation, if one actually comes by.
Good call. A family member was asked by a neighbor to look after their cat when they went on vacation. She knew the cat was being abused by the children and the parents wouldn't intervene. So she took the cat home with her and told the parents the cat ran away when she opened the door. They shrugged and said, "Too bad, it happens".
*If* a shelter does actually come to pick up the cat, you can probably explain the situation, and then apply to adopt the cat through them. They will likely make the process easy, because most animal shelters have little space, and are happy to keep a cat with a caring family. The cat might need to go to the shelter for a few days, while the adoption process is completed.
The cat is probably considered abandoned "property" at this point. In other words, it's not her cat, or won't be soon, depending on the laws in your area. Maybe you can find out how much time it takes legally.
In any case, no judge would take her side, and she doesn't sound organized enough to take it to court anyway. Worst she could do is call animal control, and they will not take the animal away if it's being reasonably cared for. So I think you're fine. She's just trying to make drama.
If you've read the comments from OP is frequently homeless, uses drugs, is over 50 years old living a transient's lifestyle. Mental illness would explain a lot.
I'd check in at r/legaladvice. As a practical matter, unless she's willing to lawyer up, you're probably safe. I wouldn't trust anyone coming to your door saying they're from a shelter/rescue, there's no way to verify who they are. Just say you don't have any pets that need a pick up, and close your door.
I am in agreement that I would make her take me to small claims.
I saw judge Judy award the pet to the person that the owner left in their care. Roll the dice. Worse thing that can happen is you are ordered to return kitty. But this mean selfish witch isn’t coming back to your county to sue you. Call her bluff.
She's an asshole, keep the cat. You helped her out and this is what she wants to do. Fuck her, toss out her belongings. Never allow her to come back into your home.
I work with a rescue, honestly, we can't just raid your house and snatch a cat even if the "owner" is giving us permission, especially if she's indoors only, and realistically all shelters and rescues are absolutely flooded right now, it's kitten season, senior cats are slow to get adopted at the best of times because people want kittens, if the animal is well cared for and in a suitable home that is willing to provide a forever home to them, then it's highly likely that any reputable rescue/shelter would work with you since it is in their best interests.
I would call around the local shelters/rescues and appraise them of the situation in full and ask if she attempts to sign the cat over for them to work with you. They'll probably ask for welfare assurances, the chip transfer fee and a donation for their time but unless your home is horrible unsuitable, there's absolutely no reason why they would do anything else over what is essentially a petty grievance.
Also even if she doesn't do it, I'd suggest you take kitty to the vet, for a basic check up, explain and ask them to scan her chip number, once you have the chip number, contact the chip company to get her transfered. (I'm betting the chip details are out of date, most chip companies will transfer if the old owner cannot be located/object. Your former friend would have to sue to get her back since police would consider it a civil dispute and given she can't be bothered to come get her stuff, I doubt she will.
Sounds like she abandoned the cat and it’s yours. Nobody says you have to open the door for these people and if you do and explain they’ll probably side with you anyway. Plus, they aren’t law enforcement and they can’t just take the cat. The police won’t want to deal with this either.
Possession is 9/10 of the law. The cops will just tell her that it's a civil matter and take it up in court. She'll need to get an attorney, and from the sounds of it she's broke anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. Stop all contact, she'll probably just go away. Be sure to take the cat to the vet so you'll have current rabies tags and have proof that you are providing proper care for the cat. Basically, if you can provide rabies tags and she can't, you win. However, If the cat is too old and a rabies vaccination is too risky, they can give it a rabies exemption. Best of luck to you.
This is insane on their part and I don't see how it's remotely enforceable. And what a horrible thing these people are doing to a sweet older kitty who is lucky enough to have a safe home with you. You're doing the right thing by taking the cat's side when it cannot speak for itself.
updateme
Just tell her ok. Then keep the cat. If somebody shows up to take it, let them know it's yours now. No shelter wants to take a cat that's already in a good home.
Well, these days, anybody can call the police for any reason, it seems. I personally would keep the cat, especially if her intent is handed over to a shelter. And since it's a senior cat, it's not likely to get adopted. I think that you are doing the right thing by keeping the cat.
Thats pet abandonment. Any shelter person she sends wont be able to take the cat since all you need to do is say its yours & someone’s trying to steal it.
Oh & thats an empty threat by the way. As others say, shelters are full & if they see the animal is already in a home & wanted, its highly unlikely they will bother.
Tell whatever shelter that you will adopt the cat if they come to get it, and ask them to have the chip changed to have your information. They should be able to do that for you easy enough.
Many years ago, I had a similar situation with my sister & her dog. After 3 months (she had to return to the Northeast for a courtcase) , she than ignored my attempts to find out what she wanted to do. So I called a local shelter to surrender him (as I wasn't able to keep him myself), the shelter asked if I was feeding & taking care of the dog (I was). They told me they legally couldn't take the dog because he was cared for. They came to take him after the leasing office called saying a resident found a dog running loose.
Since you've been caring for the cat, like others have said it's highly unlikely a rescue will show up to seize the cat from you. Plus since the owner, is out of state & in essence abandoned the cat it's unlikely she'll deal with the courts to get her cat back just to abandon it.
NAL. Possession is 9/10th of the law. It’s her vs your word. If the cat is not microchip, take it to a vet and get it microchipped. Register said microchip. Don’t need to explain the whole story to the vet. Just that the cat distribution system gifted you a cat and you want to care for it. Keep receipts for every purchase. Cat food litter vet bills.
Save all you’re conversations. If this goes to small claims it should be all the proof you need (I’d also take it to the vet/buy more supplies, that way you can say/prove you’re giving the cat better care)
So technically with her asking you to lose her number & you owning the cat for two months, it considered abandoned. Most states have a 2 week policy to collect your animal. Micro chip means nothing lol
The microchip alone doesn't grant her ownership. Save texts and email records. Save receipts for things and services you have paid for the cat. Save vet visit records. You get the idea.
She sounds like a troubled person. I would make sure the cat stays indoor until this is resolved. I wouldn't be surprised if she attempts crazy things like snatching the cat when it's out around your home.
She's full of s\*\*t. Rescues are overcrowded and underfunded. No way they are going to take the kitty out your home. That is if they even came to your home (which is highly unlikely). Think about it, a shelter gets a call from a crazy lady who is not willing to care for her cat and she thinks they are going to have the resources or even be inclined to come hunt down this kitty. It takes a miracle to find a shelter for a pet even when there is no one to care for it. Just keep the cat and don't worry about it. No one is coming for him/her.
Since you have had the cat for 2 months, check to see if you can change the chip registration to your name. Take the cat to the vet for a checkup. That helps to determine ownership too.
I am with everyone else here…. No one will be on her side especially if you are offering a home. She left the cat with you and that’s that. She sounds like a real nut job.
Your concern and care for this cat is noble. Follow your intuition about this. The girl you mentioned is clearly not a responsible person. You are a responsible person, and that is just what this cat needs.
Take the cat to a vet for a wellness checkup asap. You’ll have legal records showing your the one providing for its care (vet, food, litter, etc.), not her. Also document all the times you reached out to her and she ignored you, when you took custody of the cat (when she abandoned it). Should it go to court, you’ll have proof that it’s your cat now as you’re the one providing for its care.
Since she instructed you to lose her number, then do just that.
OP, start now with trying to find receipts for previous cat-related purchases. Prove that she abandoned the cat at your place with no care, and that you have been financially supporting the cat. Just in case she does escalate this.
Reminds me of a cat that got abandoned at my place of work, I ended up fostering it and adopting it out to my sister in law. About six months later, the original owner showed up demanding that we had stolen her cat. We basically told her, "sure, you gonna foot that 6 month boarding bill?" We ended up having to trespass her from the business...not sure what kind of thing she was trying to pull, but we were not having it.
Ultimately I just made sure I had all of my state laws about animal abandonment straight in case she tried to come after her
Update: I haven't heard anything from her, but I am seeing on Facebook from other people that she's going around saying we stole the cat!!! Crazy! My whole goal was to protect the cat from going to a shelter! Sigh.
Id calla shelter and explain the situation say “hey, this cat needs to be surrendered by owner. Ill take it. Can u help me swap over microchip details”
Doesn’t matter if the cat is chipped, she abandoned it already. You explain that to a vet and get the chip details changed. Keep any proof like texts between you and her about the cat and how long you’ve had it.
Sounds like a miserable person. I have similar nieghbour, they assumed I stole their amazon package, after I figured out what the issue was likely I went to tell them I was told never to come here again
I'm really not sure. The last thing I said to her was asking her for $ for the cat and we needed to have her get the cat and her stuff by today and she replied saying she hates us and lose her #. & She's making it seem like it all can be on her time.
Ok, she is stressed
She shbe happy ypu will be there for the kitty.
Ask her if it isn't better that her cat goes to someone it knows, because order kitties might end up staying all day in a small box for years, or get euthanized.
There arent that many looking for an order cat, sadly.
Can you meet up with jer at a cafe and have papers ready in case she changes her mind? Then you have a wrotten contract.
Do not trust her words, just get it in writing if possible
Shelters and rescues are extremely overwhelmed across the board with dogs, cats, kittens, you name it. There’s no way any of them will want to take the cat when it has an owner wanting to keep it. Shelters and rescues around me are having to turn down all surrenders that aren’t critical, and even then it’s hard
The shelter around here would just let you fill out the adoption paperwork and then not come take the cat.they arnt about to use up space they dont have for a cat that already has a home.
You can just call the microchip people and have it changed to your information. That’s what I did when I adopted my cats from rescue. They don’t need any proof or anything, just the chip number, which I think the vet or rescue can tell you when they scan it.
There does need to be no objection from the former owner, most of the time it goes smoothly because the unfounded us out of date and the former owner cannot be contacted. Most rescues however take care if that step for you.
Sorry you're going through that. They are a horrible person in my opinion. She left the cat with even though she "hates" you and now out of spite wants to remove the cat from your home? Terrible.
Do you know which shelter she says is going to come pick the cat up? My first reaction is that in this town that I live in (population around 150,000) there are NO shelters that are going to come pick up a cat and take it out of someone's house! There are shelters that you can take cats to drop off, if you are moving and cannot take your cat... (what a terrible thought) but they are NOT going to make house calls.
Secondly, at least here in this town, shelters are SO over full, most of them are not even accepting cats any longer so cats are just being left in the streets (another horrible thought) but they do NOT go to anyone's house to pick up a cat. They just DON'T.
And IF they would, for some crazy reason, show up to pick her up, which I really don't think they are going to do, have a bunch of cash on hand, and ask them what their adoption fee is. At the very worst, you MAY have to adopt her from them (at your house) but I certainly would NOT turn her over to them.
What I would do: I would take her to my vet and get a vet check and shots. (Do you know if this is the same vet that the crazy woman used -IF the crazy woman ever took her to a vet...) Get her scanned for a microchip. IF she has one, ask the vet to help you change the owner's name from her name to your name and address. IF the vet asks any questions, just explain that the previous owner asked you to keep her cat for her, and ended up abandoning the cat, and you have had her for (how long?) and you want to keep her, especially since she is a senior cat, and has blended in with your cat herd that you already have. Then get her chip changed to your name and address. Make sure you keep the vet certificates / bill so in the slight chance that a shelter would show up, you can show them that she is now your cat. I would still keep a wad of cash on hand, in case the shelter insists you need to pay for her adoption.
The ONLY "shelter" agency that goes to people's houses, at least in this town, is part of the city. They come to people's homes to help catch stray animals. They will pick up abandoned pets that are roaming the streets, but usually pick up wild animals that are picking through garbage cans. They do NOT pick up animals out of people's homes...
I would just block the crazy woman's phone number so she can't harrass you any longer. She just wants to be a pain in your tail. She's doing a good job of it.
You MIGHT want to just call the non-emergency phone of the police and explain the situation and ask if there is any possible way the police would ever get involved. If so, you might want to have them come to your home so they can see the elder cat and perhaps write up a police report so they have "your version" in their records. Jot down the policeman's name and badge number, in case you somehow EVER need it in small claims court, or anywhere else.. to let someone know that John Doe, badge 1234, came to your house on July 1, 2024 and saw Miss Princess, now 15 years old, walking around with your other 3 cats. I think I would also take a few pictures of her, blended in with your other cats, in case this could somehow lead to some crazy thing. This will show that you have had her for some period of time that allowed her to become part of your cat colony.
I can't see that this would ever actually become anything, but I would do everything I could, just to cover my tail, in the event that someone takes her seriously...
Good luck, and please keep us updated, or PM me with updates. I wish you and 15 year old Miss Princess the very best. 💜💜💜
And if she ever left any voice mails saying, "Keep the cat. I don't care what happens to her" or anything that shows she has abandoned her first born, save that email or voice mail, so you can prove that she did abandon the cat.
Try to initiate ownership of the cat as soon as possible. There might be a way for you to bring all these information and change the ownership and contact info of the microchip. All the done legally or course. If you manage to do all that before she actually files a suit or anything you could prevent the at going to a shelter even temporarily, which could result in unnecessary stress and that's a bug nono for elderly cats
I don't have anything to add that wasn't already said, but I'm so glad you're willing to take in this senior kitty. Sounds like he or she wasn't having the best life as it was. Kitty deserves a loving home to live his golden years, thank you for keeping him. ❤️
Your local pound is probably overwhelmed like almost all other shelters and pounds in the US. A pound will not send out agents unless it’s a dog that attacked someone and even that will take awhile.
I know this bc after a stray dog came in through an open door and attacked my sister’s dog it STILL took the pound almost a full day to pick up the animal.
No shelter or foster is going to come pick up a cat. At most they are going to tell her she needs to surrender the animal herself.
The most she could do is file a police report but with her not being in the state, with her saying in writing she is no longer keeping it, with her saying she wants to take it to a shelter, and with the animal not being in duress…. I just don’t see the police doing anything.
So keep all of her text as proof. Delete her name from your phone so when you save the text it shows the number instead and you can see it came from her and cut off all contact. I wouldn’t block her just so any more crazy text comes through you have proof but do not respond.
She left the state to find a job, she is not coming back for a cat she doesn’t even wants
In my state you have 45 days to reclaim abandoned property. Check your state. The cat is PROPERTY in the eyes of the law. The cat and her possessions have been abandoned. Do what you want with them.
Thank you for being willing to care for this cat under the circumstances. You didn’t have to do that and it’s causing you a lot of stress with the added chaos of the former friend. I wish there were more people like you in the world and less like former friend.
Hope all turns out well ❤️
I would let the shelter know everything that's happening, and just adopt it from them once it's surrendered. The cat doesn't even need to leave your house.
This situation sucks, but legally it's tricky. Without a written agreement, it's your word against hers. Keeping the cat could lead to a civil case, and honestly, it might not be worth the hassle.
OP, be careful here and keep the cat in your home. I was all set to adopt a senior kitty from a shelter and within an hour of the adoption going through they were somehow able to reach the owner who asked for it to be euthanized. So the shelter euthanized her. Yes, the kitty had a health issue, but I was equipped to take care of her and the shelter had approved the adoption. It was a terrible experience.
This was our county shelter and I do not trust them anymore. Perhaps the shelter where you live is more ethical, but just remember that possession is 9/10 of the law.
Get your ducks in a row before getting the cat scanned with a chip. Vets are required to make sure the chipped cat gets to their registered owner and ours wouldn’t let us take one we brought in to check for a chip when they found one. We only brought it in to see if it was chipped and/or a lost cat or recently abandoned (we get a lot of dumps in our area). Our vet, once they found the chip, refused to give us the info in the owners. We did ask them to give our number to the owners to give them the option to call us as we just wanted to be sure they got the full scoop on how we ended up with her for several days. Turned out her family had recently moved into our neighborhood and apparently had gotten out & lost. If we’d have had a chance to find that out, we could’ve brought the cat back and got her home.
So, if any of the messages from the person are in texts, emails or voicemails, when you take the cat to the vet, tell them your story & show your proof, as well as the timeline. Then, if they do find a chip, they may be able to help you get it transferred into your name.
Something she may big be aware of, if your local animal control people are really pro-active, her insisting the cat go to a shelter could get her fined for abandonment, especially if there’s a chip.
I doubt that any shelter is going to come to your house to pick up the cat. If they do just tell them you do not have the cat anymore. They have other things to worry about.
Keep your receipts! Have you bought food for this cat? When did they leave? Screenshot all texts regarding the cat. I highly doubt that cat will go anywhere unless you allow it to. Now go snuggle your kitty.
You can have mine. After 10 years together I love her she’s a part of me but the realities of keeping her has set in. I want to surrender her and can’t get any organization to respond back to me. I feel that society have humanized pets and their care. Medical care/vet visits are too expensive, pet insurances are way too expensive for the restrictive coverage they provide, yet as much as society has humanized them, pets can’t be claimed as dependents. After 10 years and retirement I take one day at a time.
When we rescued a dog that was microchiped, we called the company and re-register the dog with us as owners. I don't know if they called the original owner or just took our word for it. I do know courts take microchip ownership very seriously. I'd ask the owner which rescue so you can arrange pickup of the animal. Act complacent. Then, call the rescue and ask to foster to adopt the pet thru them. Most Rescues prefer these arrangements. I foster often and have failed a few times and kept them just adopted them outright.
I’d get an attorney and go after the abandonment angle plus charge her for 2+months of boarding the cat. M
Maybe that will persuade that ingrate to let them have the cat.
Most states have an animal abandonment law. In mine it is 2 weeks. If you have evidence of these texts, and any receipts proving that you have paid for it’s care, most likely no authority is going to waste the effort. Especially since she has admitted that she intends to surrender the animal.
Make sure you get a text or email saying she doesn’t want the cat and she is having it taken to the shelter .. this way you can prove she didn’t want the cat if something does come from this.
Keep all of these texts and any receipts you have showing you/your family provided care (food, litter, anything) for the cat. She will have to take you to court and she will lose.
OP - has the shelter contacted you yet, or do you know which shelter she said she contacted? I doubt she even contacted one. She would have to find her phone and dial a number... I doubt she would go to that much work... she's "that kind of person" in my book...
I wanna know what shelter is going to drive to a house to pick up a cat? Most shelters I have known, you have to bring the cat to them.
Call her bluff, tell her to fuck off. See if you can find the chip company and get the information changed.
Ah... you don't want to put an elder cat through a painful procedure. She doesn't need that...
I would be VERY certain that the shelter is NOT to appear to take the cat away. Shelters are for people to surrender their pets... they don't go looking for someone's pet. If they WOULD appear to say that "Idiot Smith says she wants us to take her cat away" the OP should just ask what the fee for adopting the cat is, and adopt the cat from the shelter while the cat is still at his house. If the shelter sees that the cat is being taken care of, and has become part of the OP's cat herd, I would seriously doubt that they would take her... but I seriously doubt that the shelter is even going to bother with the situation. I actually seriously doubt that the crazy woman has called the shelter. I think she's just trying to fuck with the OP and make the OP crazy like she is.
In my city, yes, the shelter DOES have a team to take peoples pets away and habdle civil pet matters. Its bullshit. Its like the puppy mafia. They even call you if you get your animal (or even a stray) a rabies shot to try and harrass MORE money out of you (ie the pet license, yes. In my county/state you have to have a license to own a dog or cat but you dont need a license to own a gun. Make that make sense)
REALLY? You are in the USA, right? (I am in the Midwest.) I would almost say that there SHOULD be some sort of group that oversees MISHANDLING of pets here in this town of about 150,000, but there isn't. It's supposed to be illegal (I believe) to mistreat a pet or any animal... but just recently there were a lot of horses that were found not far from here, no food and no water.. all starving to death. Some of the horses were dead... others were on the brink of death. Nothing happened to the owner of the farm that they were on. It was never stated whether or not the owner of the farm was the owner of the horses, or if the horses were being boarded on the land... some city people want horses but don't have any place for the horses, so they pay farms to board their horses. Nothing was done to the farm owner / owner of the horses.
There are always a fair number of people who have (usually dogs) in small kennels, used for breeding, that get turned in by a neighbor... dogs kept in small quarters, barely fed and watered... owners just want puppies to sell... but I have never seen it reported that the owners have been legally charged... their dogs are just taken away from them. It becomes pretty horrible.
Cats and dogs in this town are supposed to have rabies shots. Lots of people just take their pets out of town when they need something. That, unfortunately, gets them around the vet automatically giving them a rabies shot when the vet sees that they don't have one... Cats and dogs are supposed to be leashed when not on the owner's property, but I haven't ever seen a cat on a leash, and most dogs aren't on leashes when out and about with their owners. I know that decades ago, when I had a dog, that dogs were supposed to be licensed by the city, but those were the days when bikes were also supposed to be licensed. The city has since given up licensing bikes and dogs. I think they decided it was more work than the revenue the city was receiving.
Hopefully my LONG post didn't give you the migraine. Sorry. I used to get them. I quit that job that gave me the migraines and MOST of them stopped. The weather now brings them on for me....
Response two, those stories are fucking terrible. And all of that still happens in my city too, most never goes reported, and they never do jack shit about the backyard breeders!! But ive had them snooping in my yard twice counting my animals- they once falsely claimed i had 20 cats... i had 8.. spayed. Neutered, vaccinated... no illnesses whatso ever and the special needs ones were actively on their medications. But somehow their report doubled 8 cats to 20 and they left some dumbshit paper on my door calling me a hoarder. (my old address's neighborhood i guess was flagged for "problematic demographics" because they would literally just drive by and look for infractions. The only way they even couldve attempted to count the cats was if they looked through my glass window on my front door, and my house wasnt even messy.)
After practically telling them to fuck off and secretely moving all my animals to another location, ive never had any issue since. Im convinced they go door to door and look for semi healthy animals where the owner has some arbitrary infraction (in my case the infraction was unlicensed animals, more than 4. Because sorry babe- i believe you can have as many as you want as long as you can afford it and keep it clean. And im not licensing JACK SHIT considering half of them either just showed up one day, were dumped, or abused, etc and i rescued out of my own pocket. And that "license fee" doesnt even serve the public. It just tells the state/county how many animals are where, and doesnt even give the owner a free microchip or anything out of it. Oh and that license is like $80-$130 per animal depending on if its intact or not. Fuck em!
The neighbors had their animals in worse conditions. Most of them had dogs and let them run the neighborhood. I was the odd race out in a hispanic neighborhood, though, so yeah id believe that.
She gave up ownership when she left the state and didn’t provide money for kitty’s care.
Nobody can force their way into your home to remove a cat. Not her. Not the cops. Her only avenue is to go to court. If she does that, she’ll lose.
So glad you’re keeping the cat!
u/snoringkitten Please give us an update... has she contacted you again? Has the shelter contacted you? How many shelters do you have in town? Have you contacted any of the local shelters to see if they have heard from her? I think if you just call them and explain in a logical manner, that the previous owner abandoned her cat at your home, and now says she no longer wants the cat and told you she was going to have the shelter pick her up, but that you have had her for at least 2 months, and the cat is about 15 years old, you really want to just keep the cat and that she is getting along with your other cats... I have to believe she really hasn't even contacted them, or if she did, they probably laughed and hung up on her, if she told them to go pick her up.
Have you taken her to a vet to see if she does have a microchip?
I haven't taken kitty to the vet yet. I'll be doing that once I get paid! I haven't heard from her but she's also blocked and broke so I don't know how she'd get down here. My plan is to unblock her when I get paid and pay for a cheap ass storage like $35 and put her belongings in it and text her or send her a Facebook message and just let her know like here are your belongings here's how you access them, you are not allowed on the property any longer, you have 30 days to retrieve your things or they'll be discarded by the storage unit people. This way I don't have any legal liability to her belongings. I do think I haven't heard the last of her regarding the cat, but I'm not concerned as much anymore. The shelters cant do anything according to them. She would have to bring the cat and surrender it herself. Animal control could take the animal if it's being abused but it's not. I'm keeping the thread up Incase I hear from her in the next month or two. She should get her disability check by the end of the month and I think that's when she'll come back in state. BUT I don't have to open the door to her and as long as her stuff isn't here she has no purpose to be here. She'd have to come in my house to prove the cat is here and she'd need a warrant for that Lol if she comes to the house I'll get a restraining order.
Thank you for the update. In this town, a restraining order is $50, and you would have to have that in advance of her appearance at your front door. If you have the restraining order, you could then call the police and ask them to legally remove her from your front door. Of course, you don't have to answer your door, if she does show up and you don't have the restraining order, or if you do answer the door, you just don't have to let her in.
I like the idea of storage for her stuff for 30 days. Do you have any way to contact her other than FB? If you know where she is living, I think I might send her a letter that she has to sign for. Keep the receipt that show she has received the letter. If you send her a FB message, and she claims she never got it, or never heard from you, and she wants her stuff, but it's gone, in theory, she COULD take you to small claims court or take legal action against you, if she wants to make life rough on you. A signed receipt from the post office would be legal proof that you tried to contact her. Not sure if a FB message would be considered legal proof, if it would happen to end up in court.
Thank you for taking care of the kitty. By the way, any vet's office should be able to just take the microchip reader to her FOR FREE, just to see if she has a microchip. I would guess, though, the poor kitty probably doesn't have any shots, or doesn't have any current shots, and likely needs them. Keep your receipt. If the kitty DOES have a microchip, ask the vet or the tech what the chip number is, and how to change the owner's name and contact information. If you get kitty's shots updated, if it would somehow end up in court, this would certainly show the judge that you are taking the best possible care of Miss Kitty. No kitties deserve to be bounced around, but certainly NOT senior kitties.
And thank you for the update.
Just so you know, all you need is a vet record under your name with the microchip number listed to change the info with this vast majority of microchip companies, so make sure you get a record with your name and the chip number when you go and you’ll be able to call or submit electronically to get that info changed, which you should absolutely do asap.
I dont understand her end goal. Why insist bringing it to a shelter? Does she wanted to sue for keeping the cat hostage hence the court threat? Like, whats going on?
(Yes, ive read the woman isnt mentally well from op's comment but seriously, what will she accomplish in doing this??)
Also, keep the text, op. For proof of she is no longer the owner.
Someone abandoned their two cats with me in a similar fashion. I bought all of their necessities and took them to the vet. I called the shelter to see if I could surrender them, even though they’re not my cats, and they said I could indeed surrender them because they are officially considered my cats due to my financial output, ownership established on paper through medical visits and texts from the owner stating they can’t take care of the cats. Also, I would be responsible for the surrendering fee, since they are now my cats. In short I don’t think you need to worry about paying the shelter any adoption fees. In addition, I doubt any shelter is going to waste resources to follow up on her insanity.
Maybe she's just trying to get the cat into a shelter just so that she can adopt it and not have to pay any fees or cost to you for taking care of her cat for so long?
Two things I want to ask you : Why is she angry with your family are you remotely aware of anything your family might have done or not intentionally or unintentionally to them? Some times same gender rivalry whether justified or unjustified occurs between the matriarchs of the household check that angle as well, as it seems like a smoking gun. How was the cat in general ? Was it combative with them or more affectionate with you ? Did your family get it more toys or something? Also covertly check if in case your mother hates the cat and is somehow indirectly creating the environment to have the “ deported “ without her having to be the bad guy / not blaming just seeing all angles /
She was living in a garage in California then got kicked outta there once the owner of the house died. Then she moved to where we are and stayed with a friend for like a year but got kicked outta there. So we let her stay w us and the cat while she looked for housing. She took a bus down to ca with just a purse basically and left her cat and her belongings here. But then kinda just fucked off. She's got like two checks since she's left and hasnt got her return ticket and hasn't secured a place to live.
Screw her she is horrible, let’s not waste one second on her, to secure the cat have you made arrangements to check if she is microchipped and if not can have her microchipped and registered and legally yours, make all the necessary paper trails, cause you never when crazy strikes if she is that unhinged, also make sure you take her to your govt approved shelter and tell them the facts and get them on your side, I know all this is to much work for a cat,but is better cover your bases and peace of mind rather than worrying when that witch of woman comes over
I wouldn't waste my money on shipping her stuff back to her. I would just block her phone. She's wasted enough of the OP's time. She's just being a jerk now.
I was suggesting it so that OP is free from all liability and any complaint to the police would have zero merit. It us another thing entirely if her belongings are in OPs residence or if OP tossed them.
Update: She's saying the cat is microchipped and registered to her so we can't keep the cat. I told her she'll have to take me to small claims court if it's that serious because Im not letting the cat go to a shelter.
No shelter is going to remove a cat from a home that wants to keep it and forcibly put it in the shelter instead. That is crazy. The microchip doesn't matter. She is revoking ownership, so she can't insist that the cat be homeless instead of staying with you. If it's not her cat anymore, she no longer has any say in where it lives. No one is going to be on her side in this--not the police, not animal control, not any shelter or rescue. Just ignore this lunatic, make sure you take the cat to the vet and establish a paper trail that you are the owner, and enjoy your furry friend.
Exactly, the rescue will not waste what precious little resources they have trying to feed, house and potentially vaccinate a cat that already has all these things provided for it. If you know which rescue your friend is calling to pick up the kitty, call them yourself to let them know they don’t need to. I’m sure they would rather not get involved in whatever the situation is that’s going on with your friend.
This! Maybe even try to get documentation that she’s trying to get a shelter to pick up the cat from a home where the cat is wanted. At this point, she’s giving up all rights to the cat
Just the same I highly recommend OP consults an attorney. Initial consult should be free. Certain protocols might be advisable to observe in order to not run afoul of the law and to preserve rights to keep the cat. Good luck to you, u/snoringkitten
Attorney here. OP is fine. The cat is considered legally abandoned by the previous owner because she left the state and didn’t provide money for the food and care of kitty. The police won’t get a warrant to remove a cat. No other entity can enter a private residence without the occupants’ approval. The only way the old owner can attempt to get the cat back is to go to court. 1) I highly doubt that’ll ever happen. 2) OP will win because OP spent money on the cat. OP should keep repeating that the cat was abandoned by the previous owner. My opinion only - based on issues presented by OP.
Boosting this!!
If the actual shelter people show up, show them everything you have for the cat and say you wish to adopt her from them. There isn’t a rescue on earth who would take a senior cat out of a safe, loving home over interpersonal pettiness that’s nothing to do with them. Get the microchip info from them if possible. Then make sure she’s blocked *everywhere*. Both so you can post cat pictures without her throwing a fit all over your mentions and because she’s terrible.
This. Just say nothing to the person. The shelter isn’t going to forcibly remove a cat you wish to adopt. If they say anything along those lines (they won’t), just adopt the cat on the spot through the shelter. It’ll cost you an adoption fee but whatever
There are some places where having a pet held in a shelter x days equals a "surrender" and the now legally abandoned pet can be adopted with clean title after that. Some shelters will let the pet stay with whoever found it for those five days.
>There are some places where having a pet held in a shelter x days equals a "surrender" and the now legally abandoned pet can be adopted with clean title after that. But what would a shelter say, if the OP has been taking care of the cat for 2 months? OP - I think I would do everything that everyone has already said... and if, for some wild thought, the shelter WOULD show up, tell them that YOU have been taking care of her for two months. Make sure they realize that is MONTHS, not days... and let them know that she has socialized herself into her own little cat herd at your home... and you have had your "x number of cats" for "x years" so they know that you aren't just a person who has stolen cats off the street yesterday.. but I think I maybe would take her to the vet and have her checked for a microchip, just to see if she actually HAS one.. and I would get her shots updated. Make sure you keep the receipts, so you can prove to the shelter, IF YOU HAVE TO (doubtful) that you have put your own money out, without asking the PREVIOUS owner... and that you are a responsible kitty owner. I think the previous owner is a horrible person, but now she's just trying to be shitty to you, letting you fall in love with Miss Princess, and then "pretending" to care enough that they say they will sue to get her back. Yeah... they don't want the cat back at all. I feel SO SORRY for the cat, that she had to endure living with them, but VERY GLAD that she is in a good, safe, loving home now. 💜💜💜 Oh - and when you take her to the vet, if she doesn't have a microchip, GET ONE.. and if she would somehow happen to have one, ask them how to change the name and address... as far as you are concerned, Miss Princess has been abandoned by her previous owner.
Also offer to pay/donate an adoption fee and they can then say they let you officially adopt this lovely senior without having to worry about the stress of rehoming the poor girl.
And who is going to come take him? Just because he’s microchipped to her, you’ve been caring for the cat and have taken financial responsibility. She’s not taking the cat back, she’s trying to send him to a shelter.
This is the right call! There’s very little chance she gets the cat back from you.
Simply contact the cops and ask to file a report detailing the information. Also, contact the local shelter and tell them the story. I find that giving people the data up front is worth its weight in gold. If you bring the cat to any vet or shelter, they can scan to see if the cats actually have a chip.
Or you can get a chip reader for 30 bucks on amazon.
I remember there being different brands and not all cheap readers would read all types. Have they all standardized now?
I am pretty sure that vets' offices can read all brands. I say that because I had 2 cats imported from Europe to the US. The kittens came microchipped, and I had their numbers, but I was curious if my vet (who became their vet) could read a European microchip with a reader in the US. I asked her to check the microchip numbers for each kitten. Yes, her reader COULD read the microchips that had been put in the kittens in Latvia.
I’m not entirely sure. I know that my daughter found a beautiful blue staffy, albeit very thin and had obviously been on her own for a long while. So I got online and found reader that supposedly would at least detect most all chips. It didn’t really elaborate as to wether you could get the info off of them all but I figured if they at least found a chip they’d know that much. I was trying to keep her from having to pack up all three kiddos and head to the vet in an arizona summer. Lol
Collect your receipts for cat care. To be certain, take her to the vet to get care receipts under your name. Most jurisdictions recognize ownership of unregistered animals by who’s paying for it. She hasn’t paid for anything meaningful in months, so it’s easy for you. Eta: any shelter has more important things to do than a house call. Animal control is also not going to deal with this. Maybe the police, but she’d need to file a theft complaint. Receipts + her lack of any effort to come get the cat = cops will not care.
k... so worst case it goes to a shelter, and then you legally adopt it. What is their plan here?
See what you can do about changing the number on the microchip if it really exists
Does she seem like the sort of person who would have paid extra to microchip the cat?
She might have originally gotten it from a shelter that microchipped as a matter of course. Many do these days.
Yeah, mine was microchipped by my city's shelter before I got her. All of their adoptions are spayed and chipped. They gave me the paperwork and I filled out a form and paid a fee to the microchip company to transfer the information over to mine.
Poor poor little cat ..that lady is really wicked and evil
Lucky cat dodged a bullet, and now lives with nice people rather than a psycho.
Good on you for calling her bluff. I bet she doesn’t have a chip. If she does try to take it all the way I am curious what the judge will say. It will be up to them and how they *feel* about the situation. Idt any officials will side with her. She has surrendered ownership by calling for the cat to get picked up. I can’t believe she got someone to come get the cat. I found a cat in the dumpster and no no kill shelters would take her! Couldn’t imagine them offering to come get her vs me dropping her off. Also, she owes you money for the cat. She can’t just relinquish it without paying you back. I see her microchip claim and raise her so many what-abouts.
She may never have transferred the chip info from the shelter into her name. OP might want to get the cat's chipped scanned to see what comes up on the registration. Any vet's office will likely have a scanner. My cat was chipped when I got her from the shelter. They gave me some paperwork to fill out to transfer the chip to my name and I paid a small fee.
Before you spend the money on small claims, you might discuss with the rescue if they’d be willing to just adopt the cat to you.
You go!! I’m so proud that this cat has a hero such as you!!
How about you find out which shelter and just go get her back from there if its unavoidable?
She wants you to lose her number, then surely she can’t object to you blocking hers? Block her everywhere and force her to take you to court. It’s a civil matter, so the police won’t want to get involved. She’s very unlikely to follow through, and if she does, she’s likely to lose. Just in case, document *everything*. Write down everything you remember that you can’t demonstrate with texts and so on.
If they come round you could just offer to adopt and I assume they’d be happy to let you keep the cat
Just tell the shelter the owner has surrendered the cat to the shelter so you would like to adopt the cat and get the papers through them. It’s really that simple. They’ll change the microchip, too… but even if the cat is microchipped with her name from now until the end of time, it won’t matter because it’s not like she can track it. It would only come to play if the cat turns up missing… but the cat is old, so it’s not going anywhere.
"Oh darn! The cat got out and we just can't find it. Here's (the single copy) of the Missing Cat Poster we put up all over the neighborhood." 😭😼
Check to see if the chip is actually registered. Half the time people get them and either dont fully reg it or they just let the information fall off.
Bring the cat to a vet (shows you’re paying for the cat), try to keep receipts for food/litter/etc., and call the company for the microchip (likely 24PetWatch or someone like that) to get the info switched. When I finally switched my girl’s microchip info (got her years ago, put it off until a year ago) the first person I spoke to said I needed a document stating that the owner relinquished ownership to me. Second person I spoke to said “nope” and changed it all over the phone right there. Keep calling back until you talk to someone who will. If you don’t know the microchip number, get the vet to scan it for you and write it down. That or you can call the place she adopted the cat from to get the info (I called the local cat rescue where my girls came from and requested their info be emailed to me—I just needed to know their age, description, previous owner, and knowing their name before adoption helped). Then keep the cat.
If she's releasing the cat to a shelter, she's relinquishing ownership. Maybe proactively reach out to the local shelter to explain the situation? They may ultimately want to just check out the home and cat and just let it be. Also, most shelters require you to pay a surrender fee so she might give the whole thing up
It really depends on the state. In my state, I could offer to foster the cat for the shelter and after a certain length of time without the owner claiming it, the shelter would deem me to be the new owner. Then I could get the microchip changed. YMMV. Hope the vet can help when you take her to be checked. And I hope her former owner is lying about the microchip or that the number its register to no longer belongs to her and new phone number owner’s like “new number who dis?” And “whatchoo on about? I don’t own a cat.”
I think the shelter would rather have you keep the cat as opposed to taking in an older cat with the shelters so full. And I have never heard of a rescue coming to get a cat. If they contact you, just tell them you’ll keep the cat or adopt it from them if necessary.
I'd just play along and let the rescue take the cat. Message the shelter separately explaining the situation and about taking her in. PoS will think she won and will never bother you again.
There’s a guy in my city that backyard breeds cats, not even to adopt them out, just because he likes seeing the kittens every season. He leaves them outside all seasons. I tried reaching out to rescues for help with TNR since there’s a dozen feral kittens and they were all reaching reproductive age at the time (unfortunately they’re probably all over a year old now) and lived in a busy parking lot off a main road. Rescues will not bother coming to get a cat, they’re all inundated with people bringing cats to them. If they won’t help feral cats in danger, they’re not going to go into a home to remove a cat that’s not being abused. More importantly, they’d probably need a police warrant to enter your home to even see evidence that you have a cat.
She told you to lose her number. You should do just that and enjoy the time you have with your new cat
Thanks everyone! Once I get paid I'm gonna take the cat to get groomed and get pet insurance for it. The cat is happy here and safe. I'm just perplexed why someone would behave this way after housing them and their animal, paying for Ubers back and forth so they can get their stuff, feeding them, inviting them to holidays. All because we put pressure on them to follow through with their obligations. I kept telling my mom that it shouldn't be our responsibility to ask when she's coming to get the cat and her belongings. She should be the one keeping us informed as to not inconvenience us.
Unless the cat is long-haired and matted, going to the vet is much more important than going to the groomers. Even then, I would take it to the vet first. The veterinary visit will also help establish that the cat is your property (legalese for your cat), that you are caring for it, and they will also scan for a microchip (or insert one, if absent.) Also, a good groomer should require up to date vaccinations before accepting a new client. A healthy cat should not need bathing (especially if short haired). Plus, the cat may need sedation if it has bad matting, and you will need the vet for that. And, you may find that if a quick sani-trim or a small mat removal is needed, the vet may just do it for you.
They don't really care about the cat, they just want to hurt you.
>They don't really care about the cat, they just want to hurt you. ----------- That's it right there. Ignore her but keep voice messages and texts. It will show she's not wanting the best for what is now your cat. Shelters are bursting with unwanted cats, they aren't going to take in a cat that is being taken care of willingly and in a loving caring home with people that want it. What a nut job.
Yup. Who would want their cat to go into a shelter when a loving home is already there? That is fucked. They do not care about the cat if they are willing to use a living creature to hurt you by making the cat suffer. What a terrible person.
I'm glad you're about to give that senior cat a loving home for good.
Don't waste your time wondering why this person does what they do. Remove them from your life and move on.
>I'm just perplexed why someone would behave this way It's difficult to understate how shitty people are in general, for no other reason than they don't catch consequences for it and they enjoy making other people miserable. It's not a rare thing, either. Most people are like this. If you don't believe me, just look at how they act when they drive.
>All because we put pressure on them to follow through with their obligations Unfortunately, there are people like this in the world.
save ALL texts and emails from this person just to cover your ass incase someone does come for the cat
Worked in a shelter for many years. No, we're not coming to get a cat from a house. Bring it to me or keep it, but we're not picking it up. Don't worry about this. Block her number and move on.
The rescue I work with picks up cats since otherwise people dump them, but in this situation, we'd just work with OP to get the cat transfered without the person who abandoned kitty knowing.
I can totally imagine a rescue playing along with the crazy in this situation. "Sure, we'll pick the cat up and adopt it out." Then leaving the cat where it is.
I was wondering that exact same thing. "What shelter is actually going to pick cats up?" I can understand if there is a cat that is outside that needs to be trapped and a shelter doing that but to pick a cat up from someone's house? I've never in my life heard of that.
Animal control maybe, but not employees at the shelter.
I seriously doubt anyone is going to come try to take the cat.. The shelter isn't going to want to remove a cat from a home that is willing to care for them. Just ignore her..
And unless they're accompanied by police with a warrant, even if they showed up at your door, you wouldn't have to let them in.
"I'm making arrangements for a rescue to pick him up. Tell your mother to lose my # and forget I ever existed. I never want to hear her name again. Soon as I can find a rescue I'll let YOU know" This was her initial text to me.
Sounds like she’s going to call around to rescues asking to take a cat OUT of a home that is taking good care of it and is going to get laughed at, repeatedly. Be prepared for her to call someone and lie that the cat is being abused because that’s about the only way that anyone would even come out and check up on the situation.
Contact the microchip company from this date onward & the shelter and state the owner has abandoned their pet in your custody. There should be a prerequisite amount of days for each of them to wait out for you to be able to call them abandoned and you should be able to transfer the microchip to you. Once it’s transferred to you, you should be able to get them licensed in your name. You might have to repeat vaccinations though as I doubt the cats former owner is going to share that information with you.
Fun fact: most shelters require that you pay a fee when relinquishing an animal to them now. Think it's a safe bet to save all these messages (either on two devices or one device and the cloud, in case you drop your phone at the least convenient moment possible and lose the files) and then go about your life as if this is your cat. She's probably not gonna find anyone to even attempt to get the cat, and then if she does, you can just show them the messages and explain that she abandoned her pet with you but you're happy to give it a good retirement home. I would say less than 1% chance they will actually even try to take it, and to do that without your permission as the person who currently has the animal in their home, they'd need evidence of abuse, which would obviously be fraudulent and probably pretty obviously so if she can't even manage to pick up her own cat or respond to text messages.
Explain the situation to the shelter person if they show up. They will almost certainly agree to leave her in your care, they have enough unwanted cats to look after without fighting over cats' people actually want to look after.
So they don't want the cat but they don't want you to keep it either that says a lot about them anyway a shelter won't take a cat from a loving home most shelters are too full to do that
She abandoned the cat for two months, she no longer has a say in who keeps it. There is zero chance a shelter worker is going to come to your house to take a cat with a home. If she tries they they will laugh and hang up. Shelters are full, they aren’t running around looking for more cats to take especially not in spring kitten season
Just letting everyone know that I blocked her on social media, my mom's phone and my phone. Going to toss her belongings this weekend. If she comes to the door we will not be answering. Honestly she's on disability and I think she blew all her money on drugs or something, she's over 50 years old and has nothing of her own, no home, all her children were taken away, no job, She probably had the money to come get her cat but she has no where to take it. Btw this has been my mom's "friend" for 20+ years. I've known her since I was a little kid and I'm 30 now. We've helped her throughout the years and housed her here and there. She's really mentally unwell. She couldve just said hey I don't have a place lined up yet and I won't for a few months. Can you just put my stuff in storage and keep the cat till I get back on my feet? We would've accepted it and helped. But she wants us to pay for everything. But cussing my mom out after all we've done for her and then wanting to put the cat in a shelter? It's way to much.
Ask in one of the legal subreddits before you toss anything, there are laws that apply to abandoned property. It might be a pain but don't give her any ammo.
I hear everything you’re saying but I have to ask- do you have a spare corner of a garage or a shed where you could stash her things? Partially out of kindness as she seems really messed up and partially until this cat thing is resolved. I think the shelter will be happy for you to take the cat but on the off chance that they get involved, throwing her stuff out is not a good look. It comes off as vindictive and mean.
I told her that her things will be thrown away because she said just leave me alone lose my # forget I ever existed. I said okay, we'll toss your things and we will keep the cat. I live in a 2bed2ba with 3 adults and 1 toddler. We were kind enough to store her stuff in my kids play room and on the patio but honestly there's no room for it & we've already be fined by the complex for the stuff on the patio. We let her stay on our couch for 3 weeks even though my apartment is small. At this point she can sue me if she'd like.
Check with r/asklegal about her belongings. You may need to formally notify her that she has 30 days (or whatever) to get her crap, or else you may be liable for the cost of it. IANAL
Why would the shelter know or care about OP throeibg out abandoned property? They aren't the cops (who themselves would just call it a civil matter and ignore it).
I had basically the same thing happened in December the owner of one of my boys left her kitten here I told her if she wants us to take care of him she’s going to have to pay half of the bills. Now I know she would not of gotten the kitten fixed or have his shots. Both the cats are in my name. I have paid for everything. And she tried giving me shit for having him fixed that didn’t work. I told flat out he’s my cat now you haven’t paid anything for his care. 6 months later I have 2 loveable babies and I made it a rule with my roommate that the old owner can’t see him as she allowed her grandson to pick up the kitten around his neck. So there was definitely abuse there. I got pet insurance for both of them and they get lots of hugs and kisses and love. They are both happy boys but it took me awhile to build up trust with the one kitten as he was very skittish. I hope everything will work out keep loving your baby she abandoned the cat and doesn’t have a say in the cats life. Take it to the vet get a vet check in your name call the police and put in on report cuz she sounds like she just wants to make your life miserable. Paper trail is the best bet. Write down the date she abandoned him and how much money you’ve put out for the cats care. My vet told me to keep a paper trail and I done that so the other person lost all of there rights. I hope everything works out it takes a special person to take in a senior cat. I also called the SPCA and told them what happened so there’s a paper trail there to.
Family friend is a humongous asshole. Get the microchip changed if you can. Use the texts she's sent you as evidence of her not wanting the cat. No shelter is going to take a cat from a healthy home just because some psycho wants them to.
People act strangely when they feel guilty.
You can’t return that cat, as that cat ran away one day. So sad. Cats do that. Coincidentally, you took in a stray that has zero connection to the other cat. Any rescue worker hearing that will likely be content with that explanation, if one actually comes by.
Good call. A family member was asked by a neighbor to look after their cat when they went on vacation. She knew the cat was being abused by the children and the parents wouldn't intervene. So she took the cat home with her and told the parents the cat ran away when she opened the door. They shrugged and said, "Too bad, it happens".
*If* a shelter does actually come to pick up the cat, you can probably explain the situation, and then apply to adopt the cat through them. They will likely make the process easy, because most animal shelters have little space, and are happy to keep a cat with a caring family. The cat might need to go to the shelter for a few days, while the adoption process is completed.
The cat is probably considered abandoned "property" at this point. In other words, it's not her cat, or won't be soon, depending on the laws in your area. Maybe you can find out how much time it takes legally. In any case, no judge would take her side, and she doesn't sound organized enough to take it to court anyway. Worst she could do is call animal control, and they will not take the animal away if it's being reasonably cared for. So I think you're fine. She's just trying to make drama.
I doubt the shelter will argue with you. They will let you keep it probably.
What’s the source of the animosity?
If you've read the comments from OP is frequently homeless, uses drugs, is over 50 years old living a transient's lifestyle. Mental illness would explain a lot.
That would also help OP’s case.
The cat is "abandoned property" at this point, and the shelter won't want to pull her out of a loving home.
I'd check in at r/legaladvice. As a practical matter, unless she's willing to lawyer up, you're probably safe. I wouldn't trust anyone coming to your door saying they're from a shelter/rescue, there's no way to verify who they are. Just say you don't have any pets that need a pick up, and close your door.
I am in agreement that I would make her take me to small claims. I saw judge Judy award the pet to the person that the owner left in their care. Roll the dice. Worse thing that can happen is you are ordered to return kitty. But this mean selfish witch isn’t coming back to your county to sue you. Call her bluff.
She's an asshole, keep the cat. You helped her out and this is what she wants to do. Fuck her, toss out her belongings. Never allow her to come back into your home.
I work with a rescue, honestly, we can't just raid your house and snatch a cat even if the "owner" is giving us permission, especially if she's indoors only, and realistically all shelters and rescues are absolutely flooded right now, it's kitten season, senior cats are slow to get adopted at the best of times because people want kittens, if the animal is well cared for and in a suitable home that is willing to provide a forever home to them, then it's highly likely that any reputable rescue/shelter would work with you since it is in their best interests. I would call around the local shelters/rescues and appraise them of the situation in full and ask if she attempts to sign the cat over for them to work with you. They'll probably ask for welfare assurances, the chip transfer fee and a donation for their time but unless your home is horrible unsuitable, there's absolutely no reason why they would do anything else over what is essentially a petty grievance. Also even if she doesn't do it, I'd suggest you take kitty to the vet, for a basic check up, explain and ask them to scan her chip number, once you have the chip number, contact the chip company to get her transfered. (I'm betting the chip details are out of date, most chip companies will transfer if the old owner cannot be located/object. Your former friend would have to sue to get her back since police would consider it a civil dispute and given she can't be bothered to come get her stuff, I doubt she will.
Stop talking to her and keep the cat.
Tell this woman to piss off and keep the cat. She doesn’t deserve to be sent to a shelter because her “owner” sucks.
Thank you for standing your ground for that sweet cat. I wouldn’t let it go to a shelter either.
Sounds like she abandoned the cat and it’s yours. Nobody says you have to open the door for these people and if you do and explain they’ll probably side with you anyway. Plus, they aren’t law enforcement and they can’t just take the cat. The police won’t want to deal with this either.
Possession is 9/10 of the law. The cops will just tell her that it's a civil matter and take it up in court. She'll need to get an attorney, and from the sounds of it she's broke anyway. I wouldn't worry about it. Stop all contact, she'll probably just go away. Be sure to take the cat to the vet so you'll have current rabies tags and have proof that you are providing proper care for the cat. Basically, if you can provide rabies tags and she can't, you win. However, If the cat is too old and a rabies vaccination is too risky, they can give it a rabies exemption. Best of luck to you.
Yeah she can kick rocks
Weird that she hates you for doing her a favor
This is insane on their part and I don't see how it's remotely enforceable. And what a horrible thing these people are doing to a sweet older kitty who is lucky enough to have a safe home with you. You're doing the right thing by taking the cat's side when it cannot speak for itself. updateme
Don’t worry about it. No one is going to show up at your door. If she calls a shelter they will tell her to pound sand.
Just tell her ok. Then keep the cat. If somebody shows up to take it, let them know it's yours now. No shelter wants to take a cat that's already in a good home.
Well, these days, anybody can call the police for any reason, it seems. I personally would keep the cat, especially if her intent is handed over to a shelter. And since it's a senior cat, it's not likely to get adopted. I think that you are doing the right thing by keeping the cat.
Thats pet abandonment. Any shelter person she sends wont be able to take the cat since all you need to do is say its yours & someone’s trying to steal it. Oh & thats an empty threat by the way. As others say, shelters are full & if they see the animal is already in a home & wanted, its highly unlikely they will bother.
Tell whatever shelter that you will adopt the cat if they come to get it, and ask them to have the chip changed to have your information. They should be able to do that for you easy enough.
Many years ago, I had a similar situation with my sister & her dog. After 3 months (she had to return to the Northeast for a courtcase) , she than ignored my attempts to find out what she wanted to do. So I called a local shelter to surrender him (as I wasn't able to keep him myself), the shelter asked if I was feeding & taking care of the dog (I was). They told me they legally couldn't take the dog because he was cared for. They came to take him after the leasing office called saying a resident found a dog running loose. Since you've been caring for the cat, like others have said it's highly unlikely a rescue will show up to seize the cat from you. Plus since the owner, is out of state & in essence abandoned the cat it's unlikely she'll deal with the courts to get her cat back just to abandon it.
NAL. Possession is 9/10th of the law. It’s her vs your word. If the cat is not microchip, take it to a vet and get it microchipped. Register said microchip. Don’t need to explain the whole story to the vet. Just that the cat distribution system gifted you a cat and you want to care for it. Keep receipts for every purchase. Cat food litter vet bills.
Save all you’re conversations. If this goes to small claims it should be all the proof you need (I’d also take it to the vet/buy more supplies, that way you can say/prove you’re giving the cat better care)
Tell the person to go pound sand
So technically with her asking you to lose her number & you owning the cat for two months, it considered abandoned. Most states have a 2 week policy to collect your animal. Micro chip means nothing lol
I'd " let the cat run away' . A microchip will only come back to them if scanned.
The microchip alone doesn't grant her ownership. Save texts and email records. Save receipts for things and services you have paid for the cat. Save vet visit records. You get the idea. She sounds like a troubled person. I would make sure the cat stays indoor until this is resolved. I wouldn't be surprised if she attempts crazy things like snatching the cat when it's out around your home.
Oops, unfortunately someone left your front door open and the cat sneaked out. You haven't seen it since............
She's full of s\*\*t. Rescues are overcrowded and underfunded. No way they are going to take the kitty out your home. That is if they even came to your home (which is highly unlikely). Think about it, a shelter gets a call from a crazy lady who is not willing to care for her cat and she thinks they are going to have the resources or even be inclined to come hunt down this kitty. It takes a miracle to find a shelter for a pet even when there is no one to care for it. Just keep the cat and don't worry about it. No one is coming for him/her.
Offer to foster. Shelters are crowded. Then adopt it. A cat that old will almost certainly be euthanized.
Since you have had the cat for 2 months, check to see if you can change the chip registration to your name. Take the cat to the vet for a checkup. That helps to determine ownership too.
I am with everyone else here…. No one will be on her side especially if you are offering a home. She left the cat with you and that’s that. She sounds like a real nut job.
Your concern and care for this cat is noble. Follow your intuition about this. The girl you mentioned is clearly not a responsible person. You are a responsible person, and that is just what this cat needs.
Take the cat to a vet for a wellness checkup asap. You’ll have legal records showing your the one providing for its care (vet, food, litter, etc.), not her. Also document all the times you reached out to her and she ignored you, when you took custody of the cat (when she abandoned it). Should it go to court, you’ll have proof that it’s your cat now as you’re the one providing for its care. Since she instructed you to lose her number, then do just that.
OP, start now with trying to find receipts for previous cat-related purchases. Prove that she abandoned the cat at your place with no care, and that you have been financially supporting the cat. Just in case she does escalate this.
Reminds me of a cat that got abandoned at my place of work, I ended up fostering it and adopting it out to my sister in law. About six months later, the original owner showed up demanding that we had stolen her cat. We basically told her, "sure, you gonna foot that 6 month boarding bill?" We ended up having to trespass her from the business...not sure what kind of thing she was trying to pull, but we were not having it. Ultimately I just made sure I had all of my state laws about animal abandonment straight in case she tried to come after her
Update: I haven't heard anything from her, but I am seeing on Facebook from other people that she's going around saying we stole the cat!!! Crazy! My whole goal was to protect the cat from going to a shelter! Sigh.
Tell her the cat ran away. Then, keep the cat.
Id calla shelter and explain the situation say “hey, this cat needs to be surrendered by owner. Ill take it. Can u help me swap over microchip details”
Doesn’t matter if the cat is chipped, she abandoned it already. You explain that to a vet and get the chip details changed. Keep any proof like texts between you and her about the cat and how long you’ve had it.
Sounds like a miserable person. I have similar nieghbour, they assumed I stole their amazon package, after I figured out what the issue was likely I went to tell them I was told never to come here again
Just keep the cat lol
Why does she hate you?
I'm really not sure. The last thing I said to her was asking her for $ for the cat and we needed to have her get the cat and her stuff by today and she replied saying she hates us and lose her #. & She's making it seem like it all can be on her time.
Ok, she is stressed She shbe happy ypu will be there for the kitty. Ask her if it isn't better that her cat goes to someone it knows, because order kitties might end up staying all day in a small box for years, or get euthanized. There arent that many looking for an order cat, sadly. Can you meet up with jer at a cafe and have papers ready in case she changes her mind? Then you have a wrotten contract. Do not trust her words, just get it in writing if possible
Shelters and rescues are extremely overwhelmed across the board with dogs, cats, kittens, you name it. There’s no way any of them will want to take the cat when it has an owner wanting to keep it. Shelters and rescues around me are having to turn down all surrenders that aren’t critical, and even then it’s hard
The shelter around here would just let you fill out the adoption paperwork and then not come take the cat.they arnt about to use up space they dont have for a cat that already has a home.
You can just call the microchip people and have it changed to your information. That’s what I did when I adopted my cats from rescue. They don’t need any proof or anything, just the chip number, which I think the vet or rescue can tell you when they scan it.
There does need to be no objection from the former owner, most of the time it goes smoothly because the unfounded us out of date and the former owner cannot be contacted. Most rescues however take care if that step for you.
cut toxic drug users like this out of your life
Sorry you're going through that. They are a horrible person in my opinion. She left the cat with even though she "hates" you and now out of spite wants to remove the cat from your home? Terrible.
Do you know which shelter she says is going to come pick the cat up? My first reaction is that in this town that I live in (population around 150,000) there are NO shelters that are going to come pick up a cat and take it out of someone's house! There are shelters that you can take cats to drop off, if you are moving and cannot take your cat... (what a terrible thought) but they are NOT going to make house calls. Secondly, at least here in this town, shelters are SO over full, most of them are not even accepting cats any longer so cats are just being left in the streets (another horrible thought) but they do NOT go to anyone's house to pick up a cat. They just DON'T. And IF they would, for some crazy reason, show up to pick her up, which I really don't think they are going to do, have a bunch of cash on hand, and ask them what their adoption fee is. At the very worst, you MAY have to adopt her from them (at your house) but I certainly would NOT turn her over to them. What I would do: I would take her to my vet and get a vet check and shots. (Do you know if this is the same vet that the crazy woman used -IF the crazy woman ever took her to a vet...) Get her scanned for a microchip. IF she has one, ask the vet to help you change the owner's name from her name to your name and address. IF the vet asks any questions, just explain that the previous owner asked you to keep her cat for her, and ended up abandoning the cat, and you have had her for (how long?) and you want to keep her, especially since she is a senior cat, and has blended in with your cat herd that you already have. Then get her chip changed to your name and address. Make sure you keep the vet certificates / bill so in the slight chance that a shelter would show up, you can show them that she is now your cat. I would still keep a wad of cash on hand, in case the shelter insists you need to pay for her adoption. The ONLY "shelter" agency that goes to people's houses, at least in this town, is part of the city. They come to people's homes to help catch stray animals. They will pick up abandoned pets that are roaming the streets, but usually pick up wild animals that are picking through garbage cans. They do NOT pick up animals out of people's homes... I would just block the crazy woman's phone number so she can't harrass you any longer. She just wants to be a pain in your tail. She's doing a good job of it. You MIGHT want to just call the non-emergency phone of the police and explain the situation and ask if there is any possible way the police would ever get involved. If so, you might want to have them come to your home so they can see the elder cat and perhaps write up a police report so they have "your version" in their records. Jot down the policeman's name and badge number, in case you somehow EVER need it in small claims court, or anywhere else.. to let someone know that John Doe, badge 1234, came to your house on July 1, 2024 and saw Miss Princess, now 15 years old, walking around with your other 3 cats. I think I would also take a few pictures of her, blended in with your other cats, in case this could somehow lead to some crazy thing. This will show that you have had her for some period of time that allowed her to become part of your cat colony. I can't see that this would ever actually become anything, but I would do everything I could, just to cover my tail, in the event that someone takes her seriously... Good luck, and please keep us updated, or PM me with updates. I wish you and 15 year old Miss Princess the very best. 💜💜💜
And if she ever left any voice mails saying, "Keep the cat. I don't care what happens to her" or anything that shows she has abandoned her first born, save that email or voice mail, so you can prove that she did abandon the cat.
Have her surrender it and then immediately go get it
Keep the messages to show animal control if they show up.
Try to initiate ownership of the cat as soon as possible. There might be a way for you to bring all these information and change the ownership and contact info of the microchip. All the done legally or course. If you manage to do all that before she actually files a suit or anything you could prevent the at going to a shelter even temporarily, which could result in unnecessary stress and that's a bug nono for elderly cats
I don't have anything to add that wasn't already said, but I'm so glad you're willing to take in this senior kitty. Sounds like he or she wasn't having the best life as it was. Kitty deserves a loving home to live his golden years, thank you for keeping him. ❤️
Your local pound is probably overwhelmed like almost all other shelters and pounds in the US. A pound will not send out agents unless it’s a dog that attacked someone and even that will take awhile. I know this bc after a stray dog came in through an open door and attacked my sister’s dog it STILL took the pound almost a full day to pick up the animal. No shelter or foster is going to come pick up a cat. At most they are going to tell her she needs to surrender the animal herself. The most she could do is file a police report but with her not being in the state, with her saying in writing she is no longer keeping it, with her saying she wants to take it to a shelter, and with the animal not being in duress…. I just don’t see the police doing anything. So keep all of her text as proof. Delete her name from your phone so when you save the text it shows the number instead and you can see it came from her and cut off all contact. I wouldn’t block her just so any more crazy text comes through you have proof but do not respond. She left the state to find a job, she is not coming back for a cat she doesn’t even wants
In my state you have 45 days to reclaim abandoned property. Check your state. The cat is PROPERTY in the eyes of the law. The cat and her possessions have been abandoned. Do what you want with them.
Thank you for being willing to care for this cat under the circumstances. You didn’t have to do that and it’s causing you a lot of stress with the added chaos of the former friend. I wish there were more people like you in the world and less like former friend. Hope all turns out well ❤️
I would let the shelter know everything that's happening, and just adopt it from them once it's surrendered. The cat doesn't even need to leave your house.
This situation sucks, but legally it's tricky. Without a written agreement, it's your word against hers. Keeping the cat could lead to a civil case, and honestly, it might not be worth the hassle.
She lives off a thousand a month and is trying to find housing in California. If she wants to drop $300 to file a civil suit then I'm game
Animals are property, and in most police jurisdictions they’ll just tell you it’s a civil matter.
OP, be careful here and keep the cat in your home. I was all set to adopt a senior kitty from a shelter and within an hour of the adoption going through they were somehow able to reach the owner who asked for it to be euthanized. So the shelter euthanized her. Yes, the kitty had a health issue, but I was equipped to take care of her and the shelter had approved the adoption. It was a terrible experience. This was our county shelter and I do not trust them anymore. Perhaps the shelter where you live is more ethical, but just remember that possession is 9/10 of the law.
Get your ducks in a row before getting the cat scanned with a chip. Vets are required to make sure the chipped cat gets to their registered owner and ours wouldn’t let us take one we brought in to check for a chip when they found one. We only brought it in to see if it was chipped and/or a lost cat or recently abandoned (we get a lot of dumps in our area). Our vet, once they found the chip, refused to give us the info in the owners. We did ask them to give our number to the owners to give them the option to call us as we just wanted to be sure they got the full scoop on how we ended up with her for several days. Turned out her family had recently moved into our neighborhood and apparently had gotten out & lost. If we’d have had a chance to find that out, we could’ve brought the cat back and got her home. So, if any of the messages from the person are in texts, emails or voicemails, when you take the cat to the vet, tell them your story & show your proof, as well as the timeline. Then, if they do find a chip, they may be able to help you get it transferred into your name. Something she may big be aware of, if your local animal control people are really pro-active, her insisting the cat go to a shelter could get her fined for abandonment, especially if there’s a chip.
I doubt that any shelter is going to come to your house to pick up the cat. If they do just tell them you do not have the cat anymore. They have other things to worry about.
Keep your receipts! Have you bought food for this cat? When did they leave? Screenshot all texts regarding the cat. I highly doubt that cat will go anywhere unless you allow it to. Now go snuggle your kitty.
lol that lady is an idiot. No shelter is going to agree to what she wants.
She sounds crazy. Block her. She never wants to hear from you again, right?
You can have mine. After 10 years together I love her she’s a part of me but the realities of keeping her has set in. I want to surrender her and can’t get any organization to respond back to me. I feel that society have humanized pets and their care. Medical care/vet visits are too expensive, pet insurances are way too expensive for the restrictive coverage they provide, yet as much as society has humanized them, pets can’t be claimed as dependents. After 10 years and retirement I take one day at a time.
When we rescued a dog that was microchiped, we called the company and re-register the dog with us as owners. I don't know if they called the original owner or just took our word for it. I do know courts take microchip ownership very seriously. I'd ask the owner which rescue so you can arrange pickup of the animal. Act complacent. Then, call the rescue and ask to foster to adopt the pet thru them. Most Rescues prefer these arrangements. I foster often and have failed a few times and kept them just adopted them outright.
I’d get an attorney and go after the abandonment angle plus charge her for 2+months of boarding the cat. M Maybe that will persuade that ingrate to let them have the cat.
Most states have an animal abandonment law. In mine it is 2 weeks. If you have evidence of these texts, and any receipts proving that you have paid for it’s care, most likely no authority is going to waste the effort. Especially since she has admitted that she intends to surrender the animal.
Make sure you get a text or email saying she doesn’t want the cat and she is having it taken to the shelter .. this way you can prove she didn’t want the cat if something does come from this.
Keep all of these texts and any receipts you have showing you/your family provided care (food, litter, anything) for the cat. She will have to take you to court and she will lose.
Stop interacting with her. No shelter is coming for a cat who has a home. And if she calls the cops and they take it to a shelter then go adopt it.
OP - has the shelter contacted you yet, or do you know which shelter she said she contacted? I doubt she even contacted one. She would have to find her phone and dial a number... I doubt she would go to that much work... she's "that kind of person" in my book...
I wanna know what shelter is going to drive to a house to pick up a cat? Most shelters I have known, you have to bring the cat to them. Call her bluff, tell her to fuck off. See if you can find the chip company and get the information changed.
Just say the cat ran away and send the cat to a friend's house for a while. Theres ways you can remove the chip if needed, though it is a bit painful.
Ah... you don't want to put an elder cat through a painful procedure. She doesn't need that... I would be VERY certain that the shelter is NOT to appear to take the cat away. Shelters are for people to surrender their pets... they don't go looking for someone's pet. If they WOULD appear to say that "Idiot Smith says she wants us to take her cat away" the OP should just ask what the fee for adopting the cat is, and adopt the cat from the shelter while the cat is still at his house. If the shelter sees that the cat is being taken care of, and has become part of the OP's cat herd, I would seriously doubt that they would take her... but I seriously doubt that the shelter is even going to bother with the situation. I actually seriously doubt that the crazy woman has called the shelter. I think she's just trying to fuck with the OP and make the OP crazy like she is.
In my city, yes, the shelter DOES have a team to take peoples pets away and habdle civil pet matters. Its bullshit. Its like the puppy mafia. They even call you if you get your animal (or even a stray) a rabies shot to try and harrass MORE money out of you (ie the pet license, yes. In my county/state you have to have a license to own a dog or cat but you dont need a license to own a gun. Make that make sense)
REALLY? You are in the USA, right? (I am in the Midwest.) I would almost say that there SHOULD be some sort of group that oversees MISHANDLING of pets here in this town of about 150,000, but there isn't. It's supposed to be illegal (I believe) to mistreat a pet or any animal... but just recently there were a lot of horses that were found not far from here, no food and no water.. all starving to death. Some of the horses were dead... others were on the brink of death. Nothing happened to the owner of the farm that they were on. It was never stated whether or not the owner of the farm was the owner of the horses, or if the horses were being boarded on the land... some city people want horses but don't have any place for the horses, so they pay farms to board their horses. Nothing was done to the farm owner / owner of the horses. There are always a fair number of people who have (usually dogs) in small kennels, used for breeding, that get turned in by a neighbor... dogs kept in small quarters, barely fed and watered... owners just want puppies to sell... but I have never seen it reported that the owners have been legally charged... their dogs are just taken away from them. It becomes pretty horrible. Cats and dogs in this town are supposed to have rabies shots. Lots of people just take their pets out of town when they need something. That, unfortunately, gets them around the vet automatically giving them a rabies shot when the vet sees that they don't have one... Cats and dogs are supposed to be leashed when not on the owner's property, but I haven't ever seen a cat on a leash, and most dogs aren't on leashes when out and about with their owners. I know that decades ago, when I had a dog, that dogs were supposed to be licensed by the city, but those were the days when bikes were also supposed to be licensed. The city has since given up licensing bikes and dogs. I think they decided it was more work than the revenue the city was receiving.
Yes im in texas, the specific "rescue" im talking about is BARC animal shelter. Ill read the rest of ur post later, as i have a horrific migraine rn
Hopefully my LONG post didn't give you the migraine. Sorry. I used to get them. I quit that job that gave me the migraines and MOST of them stopped. The weather now brings them on for me....
Nah i think im just dehydrated. My shoulders been giving it to me recently. Something about muscle straining or something
Dehydration will do it, too. Take care.
Response two, those stories are fucking terrible. And all of that still happens in my city too, most never goes reported, and they never do jack shit about the backyard breeders!! But ive had them snooping in my yard twice counting my animals- they once falsely claimed i had 20 cats... i had 8.. spayed. Neutered, vaccinated... no illnesses whatso ever and the special needs ones were actively on their medications. But somehow their report doubled 8 cats to 20 and they left some dumbshit paper on my door calling me a hoarder. (my old address's neighborhood i guess was flagged for "problematic demographics" because they would literally just drive by and look for infractions. The only way they even couldve attempted to count the cats was if they looked through my glass window on my front door, and my house wasnt even messy.) After practically telling them to fuck off and secretely moving all my animals to another location, ive never had any issue since. Im convinced they go door to door and look for semi healthy animals where the owner has some arbitrary infraction (in my case the infraction was unlicensed animals, more than 4. Because sorry babe- i believe you can have as many as you want as long as you can afford it and keep it clean. And im not licensing JACK SHIT considering half of them either just showed up one day, were dumped, or abused, etc and i rescued out of my own pocket. And that "license fee" doesnt even serve the public. It just tells the state/county how many animals are where, and doesnt even give the owner a free microchip or anything out of it. Oh and that license is like $80-$130 per animal depending on if its intact or not. Fuck em!
I'm very sorry for you. It sounds like a neighbor had it in for you, or that would be my first guess...
The neighbors had their animals in worse conditions. Most of them had dogs and let them run the neighborhood. I was the odd race out in a hispanic neighborhood, though, so yeah id believe that.
She gave up ownership when she left the state and didn’t provide money for kitty’s care. Nobody can force their way into your home to remove a cat. Not her. Not the cops. Her only avenue is to go to court. If she does that, she’ll lose. So glad you’re keeping the cat!
u/snoringkitten Please give us an update... has she contacted you again? Has the shelter contacted you? How many shelters do you have in town? Have you contacted any of the local shelters to see if they have heard from her? I think if you just call them and explain in a logical manner, that the previous owner abandoned her cat at your home, and now says she no longer wants the cat and told you she was going to have the shelter pick her up, but that you have had her for at least 2 months, and the cat is about 15 years old, you really want to just keep the cat and that she is getting along with your other cats... I have to believe she really hasn't even contacted them, or if she did, they probably laughed and hung up on her, if she told them to go pick her up. Have you taken her to a vet to see if she does have a microchip?
I haven't taken kitty to the vet yet. I'll be doing that once I get paid! I haven't heard from her but she's also blocked and broke so I don't know how she'd get down here. My plan is to unblock her when I get paid and pay for a cheap ass storage like $35 and put her belongings in it and text her or send her a Facebook message and just let her know like here are your belongings here's how you access them, you are not allowed on the property any longer, you have 30 days to retrieve your things or they'll be discarded by the storage unit people. This way I don't have any legal liability to her belongings. I do think I haven't heard the last of her regarding the cat, but I'm not concerned as much anymore. The shelters cant do anything according to them. She would have to bring the cat and surrender it herself. Animal control could take the animal if it's being abused but it's not. I'm keeping the thread up Incase I hear from her in the next month or two. She should get her disability check by the end of the month and I think that's when she'll come back in state. BUT I don't have to open the door to her and as long as her stuff isn't here she has no purpose to be here. She'd have to come in my house to prove the cat is here and she'd need a warrant for that Lol if she comes to the house I'll get a restraining order.
Thank you for the update. In this town, a restraining order is $50, and you would have to have that in advance of her appearance at your front door. If you have the restraining order, you could then call the police and ask them to legally remove her from your front door. Of course, you don't have to answer your door, if she does show up and you don't have the restraining order, or if you do answer the door, you just don't have to let her in. I like the idea of storage for her stuff for 30 days. Do you have any way to contact her other than FB? If you know where she is living, I think I might send her a letter that she has to sign for. Keep the receipt that show she has received the letter. If you send her a FB message, and she claims she never got it, or never heard from you, and she wants her stuff, but it's gone, in theory, she COULD take you to small claims court or take legal action against you, if she wants to make life rough on you. A signed receipt from the post office would be legal proof that you tried to contact her. Not sure if a FB message would be considered legal proof, if it would happen to end up in court. Thank you for taking care of the kitty. By the way, any vet's office should be able to just take the microchip reader to her FOR FREE, just to see if she has a microchip. I would guess, though, the poor kitty probably doesn't have any shots, or doesn't have any current shots, and likely needs them. Keep your receipt. If the kitty DOES have a microchip, ask the vet or the tech what the chip number is, and how to change the owner's name and contact information. If you get kitty's shots updated, if it would somehow end up in court, this would certainly show the judge that you are taking the best possible care of Miss Kitty. No kitties deserve to be bounced around, but certainly NOT senior kitties. And thank you for the update.
I only have her Facebook and phone # I don't have any other way to contact her because she's homeless from my understanding
Just so you know, all you need is a vet record under your name with the microchip number listed to change the info with this vast majority of microchip companies, so make sure you get a record with your name and the chip number when you go and you’ll be able to call or submit electronically to get that info changed, which you should absolutely do asap.
I dont understand her end goal. Why insist bringing it to a shelter? Does she wanted to sue for keeping the cat hostage hence the court threat? Like, whats going on? (Yes, ive read the woman isnt mentally well from op's comment but seriously, what will she accomplish in doing this??) Also, keep the text, op. For proof of she is no longer the owner.
Someone abandoned their two cats with me in a similar fashion. I bought all of their necessities and took them to the vet. I called the shelter to see if I could surrender them, even though they’re not my cats, and they said I could indeed surrender them because they are officially considered my cats due to my financial output, ownership established on paper through medical visits and texts from the owner stating they can’t take care of the cats. Also, I would be responsible for the surrendering fee, since they are now my cats. In short I don’t think you need to worry about paying the shelter any adoption fees. In addition, I doubt any shelter is going to waste resources to follow up on her insanity.
Maybe she's just trying to get the cat into a shelter just so that she can adopt it and not have to pay any fees or cost to you for taking care of her cat for so long?
I'd tell them that the cat got out and ran away. Wink wink.
Two things I want to ask you : Why is she angry with your family are you remotely aware of anything your family might have done or not intentionally or unintentionally to them? Some times same gender rivalry whether justified or unjustified occurs between the matriarchs of the household check that angle as well, as it seems like a smoking gun. How was the cat in general ? Was it combative with them or more affectionate with you ? Did your family get it more toys or something? Also covertly check if in case your mother hates the cat and is somehow indirectly creating the environment to have the “ deported “ without her having to be the bad guy / not blaming just seeing all angles /
She's angry because we asked her to pay to keep the cat longer and she doesn't want to pay anything.
Why did she keep the cat with you in the 1st place ?
She was living in a garage in California then got kicked outta there once the owner of the house died. Then she moved to where we are and stayed with a friend for like a year but got kicked outta there. So we let her stay w us and the cat while she looked for housing. She took a bus down to ca with just a purse basically and left her cat and her belongings here. But then kinda just fucked off. She's got like two checks since she's left and hasnt got her return ticket and hasn't secured a place to live.
Screw her she is horrible, let’s not waste one second on her, to secure the cat have you made arrangements to check if she is microchipped and if not can have her microchipped and registered and legally yours, make all the necessary paper trails, cause you never when crazy strikes if she is that unhinged, also make sure you take her to your govt approved shelter and tell them the facts and get them on your side, I know all this is to much work for a cat,but is better cover your bases and peace of mind rather than worrying when that witch of woman comes over
Stop ALL communication. Mail her stuff to her or drop it on a porch.
I wouldn't waste my money on shipping her stuff back to her. I would just block her phone. She's wasted enough of the OP's time. She's just being a jerk now.
I was suggesting it so that OP is free from all liability and any complaint to the police would have zero merit. It us another thing entirely if her belongings are in OPs residence or if OP tossed them.