Situation:

about 10 days ago, a strange cat appears on my deck. It has a collar from a local SPCA. The cat is friendly, but kind of dirty, and has drips of oil on its fur. Before my cat scared it away, I managed to write down the SPCA phone number and the cat's ID number.

The SPCA says that the cat was adopted by someone on my street just 3 days before, and according to the adoption terms, it's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUTSIDE. They contact the owner, who promptly posts "Lost Cat" posters up and down the street. I end up contacting the owner, who gives me a long song-and-dance explanation about the oily fur and the inadvertant "escape" of the cat.

Somehow, the cat found its way home eventually. But as of last night, we see that he's still spending time outdoors, if not actually LIVING outdoors full-time. (Two other cats at this household seem to be outdoors-only pets, and my son found the new adoptee lying in the middle of the street outside their home at 9pm last night.)

My problem: If I call the SPCA to report the cat being outdoors again, his owners will know exactly who is reporting them, including where I live. Also, my own cats are both allowed outdoors, so I'm pretty much a hypocrite if I expect the neighbors to keep their cat indoors. (In my defense however, I will say that our condo is at the dead end of the quiet cul-de-sac, while their home is on the end of the street that intersects with a traffic-heavy street with two lanes in each direction.)

Should I notify the SPCA, or mind my own damn business? Except for the cat being outdoors, I think the owners are feeding and otherwise caring for it. (Its tag says it's diabetic, if that makes a difference) ?

Well, if the cat seems fine... now I know some people will jump on me for saying this, and I respect the other point of view, but if the cat is fine, the cat is fine. There's no need to do anything at this point.

I didn't know cats could be diabetic.

Just be on the lookout, if you see something wrong, make a move then. But for now, I wouldn't do anything.

I personally wouldn't let a diabetic cat outside, I suspect that is why the adoption agreement specified that it had to be kept indoors.

All that has to happen is for the cat to eat some weird food, or not come home in time for it's meds and it's sick or dead.

That's the same reason I don't report anyone. I 've had problems with vandalism and I never know who is going to retalitate against me/
It's nice to concerned but you have to protect yourself too.

I looked into charging my neighbors with animal cruelty for keeping an outdoors cat before.
Around here keeping an outdoors cat isn't even illegal. It's way too cold to have outdoors cats without a warm shelter.

I think it should be against the law to keep outdoors cats in cold climates unless they have shelter.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say report them. or at the least go to the owner and say, aren't you supposed to keep this cat inside? if they are having prblems dealing with the cat maybe they should surrender it.

1.they won't know exactly who called, and if you do experience vandalism, you know which direction to point the police.

2. It's the idea of "not my problem" that bothers me. at what level does the abuse have to be(or species) to warrent a phone call and the possibility of vandalism?

a diabetic cat that needs meds needs to be inside. :yes:

I'd report them, especially if they are not adhering to the contract of adoption - in this case, the diabetes. It's one thing for a cat to be an outdoor cat. It's another when you have a cat that's sick and you knowingly put it in harms way. That's neglect, to me.

I don't understand why you want them to keep their cat inside if you let yours outdoors? But since they put up lost cat signs earlier, you could always pick up the cat and say "Hey I found your cat. It looks like he got out again."

I don't understand why you want them to keep their cat inside if you let yours outdoors? But since they put up lost cat signs earlier, you could always pick up the cat and say "Hey I found your cat. It looks like he got out again."

If my cat was diabetic I would keep it inside.

If they've been told by the SPCA that the cat has to be kept inside then there is going to be a good reason for that. Also if they can't do what the SPCA has instructed them to do less than a week after they adopted the cat then what are they doing adopting it in the first place. This really annoys me because I want to say that you should go ahead and do something about it but if they know where you live, that's a tough call. I really can't decide what I think, sorry.

What if the SPCA takes the cat back and no one else adopts him? Will he get put to sleep?

Situation:

about 10 days ago, a strange cat appears on my deck. It has a collar from a local SPCA. The cat is friendly, but kind of dirty, and has drips of oil on its fur. Before my cat scared it away, I managed to write down the SPCA phone number and the cat's ID number.

The SPCA says that the cat was adopted by someone on my street just 3 days before, and according to the adoption terms, it's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE OUTSIDE. They contact the owner, who promptly posts "Lost Cat" posters up and down the street. I end up contacting the owner, who gives me a long song-and-dance explanation about the oily fur and the inadvertant "escape" of the cat.

Somehow, the cat found its way home eventually. But as of last night, we see that he's still spending time outdoors, if not actually LIVING outdoors full-time. (Two other cats at this household seem to be outdoors-only pets, and my son found the new adoptee lying in the middle of the street outside their home at 9pm last night.)

My problem: If I call the SPCA to report the cat being outdoors again, his owners will know exactly who is reporting them, including where I live. Also, my own cats are both allowed outdoors, so I'm pretty much a hypocrite if I expect the neighbors to keep their cat indoors. (In my defense however, I will say that our condo is at the dead end of the quiet cul-de-sac, while their home is on the end of the street that intersects with a traffic-heavy street with two lanes in each direction.)

Should I notify the SPCA, or mind my own damn business? Except for the cat being outdoors, I think the owners are feeding and otherwise caring for it. (Its tag says it's diabetic, if that makes a difference) ?


Call the SPCA a diabetic animal needs to be INSIDE. THey could get into other cats food and have serious problems. When someone adopts a pet and promises to follow the rules of the adoption agency they need to do it!

Outside cats can get hit by cars, kill local birds and wildlife and cause garden destruction to neighboors.

You can tell the to remain anonymous and they can just do a random follow up call.

Because the cat is diabetic and is suppossed to be indoors, I'd report them. If the owners do know it was you who called and confront you about it, politely explain to them why you called and let that be that. As others have said, if vandalism occurs, you'll know where to point the finger. However, I don't see why they would get upset about it since they're not even giving the cat the care it needs. Seriously, why get a "special needs" pet if you're not going to give it proper care? I don't understand why they would do that. They're obviously not responsible enough to have that cat, so it needs to go to a home where it'll be taken care of.

I know someone who had a similar situation. A cat kept showing up at auto shop, all greasy with motor oil and begging for food. It had a collar with the # from the local pound. They called the pound and found out it had been very recently adopted by someone close by.

The cat kept coming around. They eventually just took the cat and kept it. Maybe not fair to the "owner", but they didn't want to get into it with the owner or risk the cat being put to sleep. I don't advocate this approach, I just thought I'd share.

Wow, a lot of information and opinions to consider!

I think I can figure a way to report the owners anonymously, and if I continue to see the cat outdoors, I'll just give the SPCA a heads-up and let them decide what they want to do about it. I'm really not sure if the cat is actually diabetic, or if that's just a ploy to encourage people to contact the owners quicker if the cat gets lost.

I really appreciate all of the feedback here! I plan to keep an eye out for the cat, and I won't hesitate to get involved if there are any signs of neglect. Thanks everyone, for your input!