cats! lots of them!

LOl! In my defense, I've only ever had long-haired male cats - so never got a really good look!

 

ok this thread got slightly surreal......

Have you tried calling the local RSPCA? (that goes for your too Ashley). I am not sure how bad it has to be before they step in to help neglected animals but they might at least be able to give you some advice on how to deal with these situations.

I've spoken to Jon about this before but he insists the RSPCA won't do anything about because he's still feeding her and the like. I'm not so sure, I might have to call and ask.

The same neighbour had another cat that finally got fed up with him and is now living with our neighbour across the street.  My only worry about calling the RSPCA is that this particular neighbour is a little dodgy. He keeps his curtains closed at all times and gets people over at his house at all hours. Now, I'm totally for exposing some drug ring or whatever but I personally don't want to get invovled and since we've complained so much to him about Georgie (and I know we're the only ones who have), I'm sure he'll know it was us and if something dodgy is going on, I don't want to put us in danger.

Well, Balmerhon, how'd it go w/lifting up Murphy's tail?  Is he intact? 

Ashley, you said you had tried to treat her for fleas... what did you use? We found Frontline to be very effective.

I guess if I were you, I would call the RSPCA or Cats Protection and just see what they have to say. I'm not sure that b/c you are feeding her it makes her a cat they wouldn't be concerned about. And tell them he's dodgy and why you're concerned about taking it too far. It can't hurt.

But I totally understand. Now we have to get up the nerve to find a nice way to ask if the neighbour will be spaying the kittens... even if Murphy is sorted out. 

Expat- LOL - very funny! He's roaming the fields now... probably senses he shouldn't venture to close to creature comforts right now! 

I will keep you all posted! I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting the news! 

Ashley, you said you had tried to treat her for fleas... what did you use? We found Frontline to be very effective.

We use something that's along the same lines however it's prescription only and it's really expensive and we had no problem sorting her out for the first year but with both her and Elvis it got too expensive so we gave out on the second year. The only thing our neighbour has done is put a flea collar on her and you probably know, that doesn't kill them, it only keeps them away for so long.

LOL...it should be easy...either he has 'em or he doesn't...snicker.

Not necessarily true. My cat had rather large ummm..you knows before being fixed and even after being neutered he's still obviously male even looking from a distance. Strange but true.

Funny story: My boss just aquired a new cat in basically the same way. It just started hanging around and became a family pet. They named her Sadie. She took her to the vet to get her spayed the other day. She dropped off the cat and came to work. She got a phone call a little after arriving from the vet saying "Sadie is a he not a she...would you still like HIM fixed?" She was so embarrassed.

Oh man do I relate to all of this - we're total soft touches as well and have had issues with a negelected neighbour cat too. We used to feed her all the time, but now she uses the pebbles in our back garden (and our garden is essentially ALL pebbles) as her personal litter tray and there are litterally like 20 piles of cat poo at any given time out there.  We think she has a home, but we can't figure out where it is and they clearly leave her outside 24/7 which is so terrible in this weather. She's got a terrible  bald patch on her back where the hair won't grow, so she's not particularly charming to look at and clearly not well cared for, but she's very sweet. We're moving so we can't take care of her long-term, so I got in touch with the RSPCA. Essentially they're too busy to deal with every call about every stray, so they send you paper collars that say something like "recently dealt with by the RSPCA" or something like that and you're meant to write on the collar your own phone number so you can find out if the cat is truly a stray or not. But there's no way I'm writing my home number on the cat just for some nut job to ring and tell us to mind our own business.... So we're at a loss - I feel terrible just giving up on the poor thing, but there's not a whole lot that can be done.... 

Balmer and Ashley,

Are you talking about the drops you can put on the back of a cat's neck that wards off fleas for months? I haven't had a pet here, so I don't know if they have it here, but in the States there's an anti-flea liquid drop you can get for cats (and dogs) that wards off fleas for several months.

Speaking of cats: I'd like to adopt two small kittens, if anyone knows of any (not that I wouldn't adopt adults in a heartbeat, but Andrew is very indifferent to cats, and I'd like to see him resist the allure of two kittens growing up together, playing with each other, etc.). Please let me know if you know of any litters in the southeast area of England (within reason, say, in Sussex). We'd offer a great home, and I already have visions of kitty condos, "Marty Mouse," catnip balls, etc., in my head.

Suzanne

Balmer and Ashley,

Are you talking about the drops you can put on the back of a cat's neck that wards off fleas for months? I haven't had a pet here, so I don't know if they have it here, but in the States there's an anti-flea liquid drop you can get for cats (and dogs) that wards off fleas for several months.

Suzanne

Yeah, you put several drops on the skin at the back of the head and it kills and sterilises any fleas that bite the cat. Very effective as it prevents fleas from laying eggs. I believe the drops only last 6 weeks and then you have to treat the cat again.

Oh man do I relate to all of this - we're total soft touches as well and have had issues with a negelected neighbour cat too. We used to feed her all the time, but now she uses the pebbles in our back garden (and our garden is essentially ALL pebbles) as her personal litter tray and there are litterally like 20 piles of cat poo at any given time out there.  We think she has a home, but we can't figure out where it is and they clearly leave her outside 24/7 which is so terrible in this weather. She's got a terrible  bald patch on her back where the hair won't grow, so she's not particularly charming to look at and clearly not well cared for, but she's very sweet. We're moving so we can't take care of her long-term, so I got in touch with the RSPCA. Essentially they're too busy to deal with every call about every stray, so they send you paper collars that say something like "recently dealt with by the RSPCA" or something like that and you're meant to write on the collar your own phone number so you can find out if the cat is truly a stray or not. But there's no way I'm writing my home number on the cat just for some nut job to ring and tell us to mind our own business.... So we're at a loss - I feel terrible just giving up on the poor thing, but there's not a whole lot that can be done.... 

How do you know it will be a 'nut job' and not someone desperately trying to find his/her animal?  I think it would at least be worth trying before leaving an animal behind.

How do you know it will be a 'nut job' and not someone desperately trying to find his/her animal?  I think it would at least be worth trying before leaving an animal behind.

But the collar goes on the cat - so if she has an owner, the owner is meant to call and say "no, it's not a stray, it's my cat." If she's a stray, no one will see the collar.... I've asked all of our neighbours and they all think she's just a rather neglected cat who does in fact have a "home" such as it is....

Sorry; I told myself not to get involved in this thread, so I won't any further.  I just get way too upset hearing about neglected animals.

(not directed at you, AnneG!)   

Anne... I'd take Kitty in a heartbeat, even if I'm allergic to her.  She's a sweet lil ratty thing.  I have a soft spot for neglected or abandoned animals too.  I guess that's why both of my dogs came from the shelter and not a breeder. 

I miss my dogs. 

  Anyone who wants to make up "is this your cat" flyers around our house is more than welcome - she'd certainly be easy enough to catch if she is in fact a stray and we're not moving until the first of April.... One reason we didn't take her in originally was that our new neighbours kept putting collars on her (they were feeding her too) and the collars kept dissappearing - so everyone assumed that her "real" owners were taking them off of her. And so I felt funny about taking a cat to the vet and letting her live in our house if she actually did have an owner.... Since then we've rescued a cat from friends who were going to take her to the RSPCA, and she doesn't like other cats.... So... rock... hard place. But I am happy to assist if ya want to try to determine if she's in need of a lovely warm apartment home - I hear she's an Aresenal fan as well.