Here’s this week’s “Ask the Morning After”…….
My wife and I have two cats that spend their days outside, but come inside the house with us at night. Each cat has their own special bed and litter box and they almost always return home at night. About a month ago, one of our cats (Winnie) did not come home for several days. We looked all over the neighborhood, talked to our neighbors and even put up “missing cat” signs. About 10 days later, I saw a picture of our Winnie on the bulletin board at the local supermarket. Somebody had found her! I called the number on the notice and discovered that the person who found our cat lived about 4 blocks from our house. Pat (not her real name) told us she found Winnie spending some time in her yard, so she decided to feed her. Pat was a former cat owner herself and told me her friend recently lost a cat who was hit by a car. She always kept her own cat indoors, so she managed to get Winnie to come inside for a closer look. Pat could tell that Winnie was not a feral cat and asked me how she got loose outdoors. When I told her that my cats were outside every day, she was horrified. “They could get hit by a car, just like my friend’s cat,” she said. “Or attacked by a wild animal. You’re lucky I found her before she got killed.” When I tried to make arrangements to pick-up Winnie , Pat became uncooperative. She said Winnie would be safer living with her, than roaming around loose. Furthermore she took it upon herself to take the cat for shots (that she didn’t need, I got them already), and now even wants to be reimbursed for the vet bill. How can I get my poor Winnie back from this “cat lady”, without involving the authorities? I don’t have a cat license or tags for her to prove she belongs to me. Should I be forced to make a promise to keep Winnie indoors, just to get her back? And what happens if she does wander back to Pat’s house again?
Perplexed
What should Perplexed do? And what about the vet bill?
Here’s the cat victim Winnie.