Neighbor's cat

16 years ago

I live in an area where my neighbors are fairly standoffish (although quite nosy through their blinds!). So I try my best to keep to myself and ignore everyone, but a situation has come up that I can't ignore. A neighbor catty-corner from my house has put up their house for sale, rather suddenly it seems, as no one has lived in it since the sign went up, the yard is completely overgrown, the wife has only been by a couple of times briefly to bring trash to the curb...okay, now I sound like the one peeking through the blinds!!! Anyways, they have a cat, a lovely white kitty who is very friendly and well-known in the neighborhood, and spends most of his time indoors. I know they, at least the husband, really cared about the cat, as they sort of "adopted" him when he showed up on their doorstep. Snowy made it perfectly clear that he was not strictly an indoor cat however, and despite their best efforts to keep him close, he wandered the streets frequently, which was a source of frustration and significant financial expense at times, particularly when he got into bad fights. Well, after several weeks of the house being vacant, I saw Snowy for the first time tonight while walking my dog. I rushed home to put the dog inside, then grabbed a handful of kitty kibble and ran over to see if Snowy looked hungry, injured, etc. He looked fine, he purred and rubbed up against my leg as usual and he ate some food but not voraciously, so I suspect he's being fed by other neighbors. But I'm wondering if I should do something. Specifically, and this is where I need to know if I'm crossing a line or not, I was thinking of calling the realtor, who I know only from getting a market analysis done of my house, and asking her if the homeowners are looking for their cat, because I just saw him and was concerned that he was looking for them. I'd hate to think that they just abandoned him. If I knew that they made arrangements for another neighbor to look after him I would feel a lot better. I don't want to sound like the crazy nozy neighbor I'm always complaining about, but where pets are concerned I do get a little emotionally involved in their wellbeing, whether they belong to me or not. I care less about the circumstances that caused the neighbors to abandon ship suddenly than I do about the kitty having a safe place to sleep at night. And me keeping him is not an option for several reasons.

What do you think? Should I make the call or should I mind my own business?

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Comments (12)

laurief_gw
16 years ago
Make the call. The realtor can check with the homeowners and find out from them what is going on with Snowy. It's a neighborly and responsible thing to do.

Laurie
moonie_57 (8 NC)
16 years ago
I think it -is- your business to find out if the cat was abandoned or just staying there until they sale the house... which would seem odd. Lots of people abandon pets when they move. If you make the call, let us know what you find out.
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trekaren
16 years ago
I had a neighbor with 3 dogs and a cat move, leaving one of the dogs, and the cat behind.

Doggy got adopted pretty quickly by a neighbor and is doing great.

Kitty hung out at our neighborhood pool, and we neighbors fed her. I had finally convinced DH that we should adopt her, when out of the blue, after 4 month absence, they showed up for a visit, and took her back to their new home.

Makes no sense to me --- I tried to understand their thought process but for the life of me, I never got it.
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
16 years ago
I will never understand a person who leaves an animal behind. They need to be covered in honey and left in a fire ant mound with their tongue cut out. That may still be too good for them.
User
16 years ago
An alternative explanation may be that the cat escaped his new house and went back to the old. My neighbor's cat has done that repeatedly in the last year...he just got killed by a car doing that exact thing a couple of days ago. You should definitely contact the realtor.
laurief_gw
16 years ago
There are a number of different possible explanations for why the cat is still in the neighborhood. That's why it's important to call the realtor to get the answer.
jannie
16 years ago
I would phone the realtor. And I'd keep feeding the cat. If it was me, I'f adopt him. He sounds rather nice.
naturegurl
Original Author
16 years ago
Jannie, he really is a very nice kitty. Unfortunately there is a long list of reasons why adopting him is out of the question for me. He is so sweet and affectionate, I would really hate to see something bad happen to him though. Plus, I know the owners invested a considerable amount of money to keep him alive after his various battles, so it makes no sense to me why they would just leave him. Not that money is any way to judge loyalty, but I could tell by the way they spoke about their cat and what they tried to do for him that I knew they truly cared about him. Junebug, I was talking to someone earlier and she also suggested he may have wandered back from his new home. I will certainly call the realtor in the morning, you've all convinced me it is the responsible thing to do. I'll let you know what, if anything, happens.
naturegurl
Original Author
16 years ago
I just left a message for the realtor. We'll see what happens.
buyorsell888
16 years ago
Hope it ends well.
linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
16 years ago
My brother's cat left his new place at least 3 times to turn up at the old house. He had left the new tenants his phone number just in case. They seemed annoyed that this kept happening; after the 3rd time Morris was never seen again. This cat was just way too crafty to keep inside; plus my brother had several roommates so there was a lot of door-opening. Either he was killed on the way or someone took him to a shelter.
caliloo
16 years ago
I also know of a cat that kept returning to the previous house, much to the cat owners (and new home owners) chagrin. Fortunately, the new house owners finally agreed to adopt Fluffy and he lived many more years in "his" house with a new family.

I think calling the realtor was the right thing to do, but if the cat wants to be there it is going to be really hard to convince him otherwise.

Alexa