We neutered a cat we thought it was Stray

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Poor boy just wants friends by sound, and that includes human friends.

At least if someone else finds him, he is chipped to you 

[Koco]

Dear all

Just a quick update.

The stray cat was back in our property last Sunday. I was told then by the neighbours that he was around the previous Tuesday and Wednesday which was two days after they collected him, but my cat had urine infection and we had our cats looked in our house for 5 days. So we didn't see him when we got back from work.
He was happy to see my female as he is been trying to get his way with since day one 

He was around playing with our cats whilst my husband was cleaning his car and I was doing some house chores. Then left later on in the afternoon.

Anyway, they are leaving him walking about again, still no wearing a collar and I doubt they have updated the microchip that we paid for him to have it put on.

The good thing is that he seems happy.

By the way I found a flyer last week near by my street, so they were looking for him probably after we locked him at home so he will heal from his neutering operation, the picture they used was black and white and he looked very different.

Speak soon!

[angel-77]

What a horrible situation, hope your cat gets well soon!!!

[Karon]

He's gorgeous - but his "owner" doesn't really think he's pure Bengal does he?  I think he's lovely even though he's not a pure bred -but definitely better off without his bits

[Koco]

I don't think they will take the legal route becuase if they can't be bother to spend any money in vet bills for all their pets I would be surprise they would want that kind of legal expenditure.

By the way, my male cat is having some tests done as his pee problem is got a bit worse. He is peeing more red than two days ago so the vet is going to X-ray him and make sure they give him the adequate treatment. I cannot believe that due to all this ordeal my cat is now sick. The vet says that is quite normal when animals get stressed out.
See what they say this afternoon and hopefully he will get his treatment and feel a bit better.

[Fire Fox]

If one cat in that household is full of fleas, you can bet they all are.  Surely you cannot breed from a cat who is allowed to roam free? He could have caught anything. You have evidence this cat is not being treated right as the vet will have seen the fleas, so if this irresponsible idiot tries to take any legal action that is your counter claim. They will be hoping you settle out of court, they won't want to go to court and have it on record that their cats are flea-ridden. Won't much want the RSPCA paying a visit either. 

[JackSpratt]

Not pure bengal but beautiful (better than a bengal actually  )

Ahh, but us moggy fanatics are biased.... He is a cutie!

[Koco]

This is very interesting:

I will presume that readers in the UK are looking for a Bengal Cat, registered with the GCCF, as many British pedigree cats are. Whether you are looking for a show cat or a family pet, it is imperative that you acquire a healthy, vaccinated, insured animal from a reputable breeder who will have given your Bengal a good start in life.

Because of the media attention given to Bengals and the high prices which these cats can command, it has been alleged that some irresponsible breeders have been attracted to the breed. Reports are that some silly sums of money have been changing hands and cats have not always been placed with suitable owners. To combat this, several breed societies have been formed where responsible breeders are dedicated to the welfare of the Bengal and to keeping prices reasonable. This magazine recommends that you contact one of these as they will put you in touch with reputable breeders in your area. Since the Bengal Cat was recognised for show status by the GCCF in 1997, earlier problems are in decline, such as the alleged practice of unrecognised breeders outcrossing to tabby cats in an attempt to save money, or even allegedly selling tabby cats as Bengals to unsuspecting customers!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Not a bengal but stunning and hope you manage to reaquire him 

[Kay and Penny]

if the owner was given papers stating the kitten was pure Bengal, then that is fraud

if no papers passed hands, then the owner is a fool who knows nothing about pedigree animals

[Sootyca]

*If* it does go further you can always argue that the cat you had neutered couldn't possibly have been theirs as your stray wasn't pure Bengal and as such they have stolen your cat!

[Koco]

Gillian, for what they owners were saying they waited a long time to get him from a friends who were breading Bengals, but I am not sure if believe it, but if it is true they have been lied and they have bought it thinking it was pedigree.

[Gillian Harvey]

Oh he is gorgeous!  he's got that chunky tom cat look hasnt he? Have you seen him since talking to the owner? It makes me cross to think the owner was probably going to 'rent' him out for stud services at an exorbitant fee, claiming that he's pure Bengal  Wonder where the owner got him from - was he duped into thinking he was buying a bengal kitten perhaps?

[Koco]

I took this picture 10 days ago, so by this point it was nearly 3.5 month that he was coming and going. He used to sleep under our hedge and if it was sunny in the morning he will sit on top of the shed which is were he is on the photo and sleep under the sun.
Very easy to think that he was stray when you see him most mornings in your garden and hear him during the night yowling around.
He is due vaccinations again, probably boosters next month, I don't think he will get them. Anyway lets hope that he is happy.

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

Not pure bengal but beautiful (better than a bengal actually  )

[Dawn F]

yes he is a cross but is lovely!!!!!!!

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

He's a darl! 

Definitely a cross and not pure Bengal. That face gives it away... tabby mogster all over. 

[Koco]

sounds like you did what any of us would have done - a real breeder would have him in a stud house - a stud bengal would be an expensive hobby so I couldn't see him roaming the street - like others have said I think he will be back  - I've got a bengal myself, they are very cute so if he is a mix you could be in for a treat!

I have to say that he is beautiful and very clever, he does "yowl" a lot and is very very loud. His eyes are green and he didn't like us touching him much at first, but after four days at our house he has got used to and when he came back after 24 hours out of the house on Sunday he was very happy to be cuddled. I have never seen cat behavior like that before.
Every time I come back from work I see the house where he is living and I just hope that nothing has happened to him.

I leave a picture for you to see it with your own eyes how cute this little one is:

[Michelle (furbabystar)]

Hi...

Been there and got the T-Shirt  

A few years ago a ginger cat turned up at my house and refussed to go away. I called local vets etc to see if anyone had reported him missing. After about 5wks of him being with us I decided to get him neutered. He then stayed with us for a few mores weeks and then one day dissapeared.
He turned a couple of days later with a collar on ....whoops  

So I put my phone number on the collar and within a couple of days someone rang me wanting to know why i had put my number on THEIR cat....

Anyway I explaned what happened and how I thought he was a stray who was now going to live with us....
The owner said that the cat offen dissapeared for weeks as he was un-neutered  
So i took a deep breath and said "Urm havent you noticed 2 things missing from under his tail"

To cut a long story short the owner was NOT IMPRESSED that I had neutered him...but hey hoo thats not my fault


You havent done anything wrong, you cant be sued for what you have done  

[Dawn F]

sounds like you did what any of us would have done - a real breeder would have him in a stud house - a stud bengal would be an expensive hobby so I couldn't see him roaming the street - like others have said I think he will be back  - I've got a bengal myself, they are very cute so if he is a mix you could be in for a treat!

[Koco]

Sounds like a back street breeder to me. I reckon they will loose interest in him now he's firing blanks.   MM is right...  he'll be back.  

Yup.  Definitely backyard breeder and the cat is probably not a pedigree bengal.  You did the best thing for him by getting him neutered.  It doesn't sound as though the so callled owner cares (what's he doing letting an entire male cat outside?) and there's every chance he will be back.  If he comes back, I would whip him down to the vet for a microchip with your details on  it.

My husband has been down to the vet today to pick up the books and sought for advice. The vet has record of this people registration of three other animals but nothing about this cat. He recommended that we should not give them the vaccination books and let them ask for it if they want it.

Susanne the cat is already chipped as we paid for that to be put on him, the only thing is we haven't sent the details away to get that chip number allocated to us. The vet says to leave it like that as they will haev to pay to put their own details and he believes that they are not going to do so.

The vet reasures us that this cat is not pure pedigree Bengal as they are very distintive and this cat didn't  have the fur with the markings the same. As I said before he believes is a cross and I think vets rarely get this wrong.

I will keep an eye on him, hope he will be back visiting.

By the way my male cat due to all of the stress we had with having this "stray" cat in our house, has cystitis and today has been put in antibiotics as well as we need to keep a close look to his pee. He is ill for nothing really.

All of this for a careless pet owner. I think that if someone is going to have a pet running wild and not check by the vet ever, they shouldn't have a pet in the first place.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Sounds like a back street breeder to me. I reckon they will loose interest in him now he's firing blanks.   MM is right...  he'll be back.  

Yup.  Definitely backyard breeder and the cat is probably not a pedigree bengal.  You did the best thing for him by getting him neutered.  It doesn't sound as though the so callled owner cares (what's he doing letting an entire male cat outside?) and there's every chance he will be back.  If he comes back, I would whip him down to the vet for a microchip with your details on  it.

[Tiggy's Mum]

  to Purrs

You sound like wonderful caring people and it's such a shame that these so called owners have surfaced now. I would not be in the least bit concerned about the legal side of things as it sounds like you could have done nothing more, the sad thing is that he would have had a great home with you had his 'owners' not surfaced. If they are intent on keeping him I would send them an invoice for the vet bills and see how keen they are then!

[Koco]

Thank you all guys for your words, it makes me feel a bit better that we didn't do anything wrong.

I will keep you posted with any developments. Tomorrow we are going to collect the cat's vaccination books from the vet so we will ask their advice.

[JackSpratt]

Koco, I'm sorry to hear you're in this situation. The poor cat doesn't sound especially loved at "home" and it's horrible when you know you could give an animal the care and attention they're missing out on.

 

[Koco]

When I got Pepsi microchipped I had to send off the form with details of our address and things, the vet said that until they received the form from me then Pepsi wouldn't be put onto the database or something? They had one copy of the form still though, but it was down to me to send the details off, this was with Petlog.

Poor kitty, the owners sound awful, letting him walk around filthy and covered in fleas. If they only wanted him to make a profit from then I imagine you'll find him wandering again as he can no longer make them any money. You definately did the right thing, you made a massive effort to find the owners so as far as you knew he was a stray as no-one came forward. If it was me I'd be planning a bit of catnapping, but of course I shouldn't advocate that  Could you not offer them a little bit of money for him now that he's no use to them, or just ask if you can look after him or do you reckon they'd say no because they're angry?

Claire the owner was extremely aggressive on the phone and he didn't listen anything my husband was saying. I wouldn't want to pay for him as I had paid over £200 on vet bills already and he has been living in and out of that house since they got him, so I don't think he will come back permanently to our house as we live quite close to them, but he will visit us for that I am sure and if I still see him with fleas and not being looked after I might take action.

I think my cats miss him as they are looking out of the windows for him. But it is nothing I can do, we could have been different and told them that we wouldn't change the chip details and report  them for a health inspection. They have the courage to told us that soon after they got him last year his dog took him in between his teeth and he was living outside afraid of going back in with the dog. That they have four more cats and that due to the cats bringing mice in they had a mouse living in the kitchen units for sometime. I don't know it doesn't sound too good really.

[Claire_smc]

When I got Pepsi microchipped I had to send off the form with details of our address and things, the vet said that until they received the form from me then Pepsi wouldn't be put onto the database or something? They had one copy of the form still though, but it was down to me to send the details off, this was with Petlog.

Poor kitty, the owners sound awful, letting him walk around filthy and covered in fleas. If they only wanted him to make a profit from then I imagine you'll find him wandering again as he can no longer make them any money. You definately did the right thing, you made a massive effort to find the owners so as far as you knew he was a stray as no-one came forward. If it was me I'd be planning a bit of catnapping, but of course I shouldn't advocate that  Could you not offer them a little bit of money for him now that he's no use to them, or just ask if you can look after him or do you reckon they'd say no because they're angry?

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Sounds like a back street breeder to me. I reckon they will loose interest in him now he's firing blanks.   MM is right...  he'll be back.  

The implanter is the one that registers the owners details with the database. The part you are given is to send off should you wish to change those details in the future... but there is a fee involved. These 'owners' will have to pay if they want to re-register him to their name and address. 

[Koco]

Awkward situation, why didnt they surface to start with 
The chip form should have been sent off by the vet already, you get one copy, the implanter gets one copy and the other is sent off to whichever company was used.
Whatever you do dont send them anything!
He will be back as he knows where he is actually wanted, they will get fed up of the effort to retrieve him. The only other thing you can do is get him into a rescue abit further away and have them change the chip to them, as your on the form there wouldnt be a question over his ownership

My vet put him the chip whilst under the anesthetic of the operation and gave us the form to fill and send off to the chip company. One bit for the company and one bit for us to keep. We have given now that bit of paper to the so called owners, but we still have the form that estates that the cat will be register to us as well as all the vets paperwork.

We see what happens. I don't think we will be keeping him unless his owner offer.

Anyway, I feel as if I have been taken advantage, not thanks was given by all the care we had for him and we have spend so much in vet treatments as well as future medicines for him.

Terrible really.

[Millys Mum]

Awkward situation, why didnt they surface to start with 
The chip form should have been sent off by the vet already, you get one copy, the implanter gets one copy and the other is sent off to whichever company was used.
Whatever you do dont send them anything!
He will be back as he knows where he is actually wanted, they will get fed up of the effort to retrieve him. The only other thing you can do is get him into a rescue abit further away and have them change the chip to them, as your on the form there wouldnt be a question over his ownership

[Koco]

Sootyca when my cat got missing before Easter we started calling the local vets after 24 hours as it was out of character for him to disappear like that. We did all in our power: posters, fliers, websites, knocking doors. So I find this guys a bit unbelievable because they did nothing, and they think the vets don't have a clue as he quoted very clearly yesterday.

All I can say now is that I have the feeling that this cat is not going to have his flea drops, vaccinations and health checks in good order.

We couldn't deny the fact that he was chopped as he went back to his house with the collar and shaved neck, the vets had to shave him to put the unaesthetic and take some blood as they cannot see the veins through the fur, but this guy even called a second time asking why we had ourselves shaved his neck!!!

mind blowing really...

[Sootyca]

I'd worried about this issue when taking our local "stray" to the vet. He is un-neutered, unchipped and although healthy for a stray has a very large ulcer.  On taking advice from several different places there is no proof of ownership if anyone comes forward to claim this cat and so whilst he is recuperating in the rescue he is being neutered.  Of course, if anyone does come forward and say he is missing I would deny all knowledge of having him chopped!

Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much over this guy - if he bought a bengal to breed from he was clearly conned if the vet says it was a bengal/tabby cross.  Also, the cat clearly can't be losing collars if he made it back to his house with the one you put on firmly intact!  Probably he couldn't care less about the cat but thought he would try to bully someone - after 4 days of my girl going missing I had visited every house in the area twice and rung all the vets!

[Koco]

I think you should be congratulated for having done so much for this cat, and undoubtedly however uncaring the owners are, you have made sure he will have a healthier and happier life

if you can make it up with the owners to some degree I think it quite likely that a time will come when they will ask you to take him

Thank you Trigger, to be honest if they were so worried they could have asked the vets in the area during the 4 days that we had him at home during his recovery after the operation. They did nothing and I have a feeling that they have something to hide.

it should be a law that says that any cats that are running around without a chip or a collar and are taken in by someone who takes them to the vet and report it as own, is a keeper. We were thinking on taking him to the RSPCA so they couldn't have seen it again ever!

I cannot believe this guy's words saying that microchipping a cat is not humane!!!   

[Koco]

If it comes back to you , keep it as an indoor cat or home it somewhere safe.

If you've chipped him, then send the form in anyway to register him at your address.

A real breeder would not allow a stud cat out to mate with all and sundry and if he was as neglected as you say then they do not look after him.

As far as being sued , The evidence is to show that you took reasonable attempts to find the owner and also they took reasonable attempts to find their cat.

Angie

they live quite close to our house and I don't want to start a violent issue here. We need to speak to the vet tomorrow to get our cat's book back as we took the three of them to the vet on Saturday. But seeing that they picked him up yesterday I believe that they have shut him at home now and he won't come out.

It worries me because they say the feed many cats from the streets and seeing the size of his fleas I am surprised that he passed from being a kitten to a year old cat, which is what they told us it was.

[Kay and Penny]

I think you should be congratulated for having done so much for this cat, and undoubtedly however uncaring the owners are, you have made sure he will have a healthier and happier life

if you can make it up with the owners to some degree I think it quite likely that a time will come when they will ask you to take him

[Angiew]

If it comes back to you , keep it as an indoor cat or home it somewhere safe.

If you've chipped him, then send the form in anyway to register him at your address.

A real breeder would not allow a stud cat out to mate with all and sundry and if he was as neglected as you say then they do not look after him.

As far as being sued , The evidence is to show that you took reasonable attempts to find the owner and also they took reasonable attempts to find their cat.

[Koco]

Also, anyone planning to breed wouldnt let a valuable stud cat roam - well, anyone responsible that is 

Completely agree!

I feel as if we had committed a crime really, and we just wanted to give him a home. The funny thing is that they live in a main road and how on earth they leave this cat wonder so little like that!

[Koco]

This 'owner' has no proof that this cat is his. Anyone buying a bengal male to breed would microchip.

A microchip in your name and it might be hard for anyone else to prove ownership.......

Angie, unfortunately they collected him yesterday as he came back home to stay for the night and we haven't had time to sent the identichip form with our details away. I really don't want to send it now that they are claiming him theirs. And I have offered to post them the vet book with all the vaccinations and treatment that he has had these last 4 days. But I feel a bit upset because clearly they had this cat running wild since he was a kitten and someone who is going to breed an animal should have them firstly chipped, secondly checked up by the vet registered and thirdly if it is pedigree kept at home.

It is my opinion anyway.

This cat was filthy and full of enormous fleas.

[Gillian Harvey]

Also, anyone planning to breed wouldnt let a valuable stud cat roam - well, anyone responsible that is 

[Angiew]

This 'owner' has no proof that this cat is his. Anyone buying a bengal male to breed would microchip.

A microchip in your name and it might be hard for anyone else to prove ownership.......