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How many people feed their neighbor's cat?

by MIchael
(London, UK)

If you have a cat flap (cat door) and keep cats it is likely that you are feeding your neighbour's cat or a stray cat or a cat that lives four blocks away, particularly if your cat food is better than the average in the neighbourhood.

I have had three stray or time share cats eating out of my cats' food bowls.

I put a bit of food down in the evening. Invariably a neighbor's cat comes in during the night and eats it. My elderly lady cat then cries out for food...at three in the morning. I leave a bit of dry for her but she has got picky and only eats best wet.

If you are feeding your neighbor's cat and a stray cat it can get expensive. I buy cat food in bulk online! A huge pile of it is delivered and stored away. It lasts about a week...! No just kidding but it goes down pretty quickly.

The thing is that the responsible cat keeper supports the irresponsible cat owner. They lean on us and it is irritating. When you talk to an irresponsible cat owner about their bad habits and try to get them to improve so they stop leaning on you to feed their cat, the slam the door on you.

In the USA cat doors are large allowing a dog to get through. Maybe you are feeding wildlife and dogs as well as your cat?

Do you feed your neighbor's cat - either by choice or because you have no choice?!




Comments for
How many people feed their neighbor's cat?

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Aug 03, 2011
 last comment
by: Michael

You make a good point that I had not thought about. Cats will tend to eat food that is left down as you say and in some cases the cat's caretaker does not want their cats fed.

In my case my neighbour is definitely irresponsible. She has already lost one of her cats that came to me - killed on the road. And another cat that comes around crosses the road! It is only a matter of time.

She underfeeds.
Aug 03, 2011
 Leave my cats alone!
by: Anonymous

I have three cats, pedigrees. I opted for slender breeds: Siamese & Bengal. They are fed on an expensive brand of dry cat food recommended for good dental health and balanced nutrition. My neighbours see my apparently starving cats and put down wet food for them. They eat their breakfast and head straight over for their seconds...and why wouldn't they, it's there after all! All three have suffered diaorrhea as a result and no doubt in the future rotting teeth etc.

If you want a cat...buy your own is what I say! Why should we have to lock our cats in and make there lives miserable simply because well meaning do gooders think my very well looked after cats are deprived. Get a life and keep out of mine and my cats ugh!
Jul 03, 2011
 No - And here's why...
by: Mark

Since moving in with my fiancee, I have had the displeasure of a neighbour who places food outside her house which has invariably caused our much older cat to become sick and having the runs (we feed both of ours dry) and these there is the feeling that he gets as her house being his home, which I cannot control seeing that she continues to create the circle.

And only this morning, I had the pleasure of her ex-husband telling me that I should do something about the cat as he runs towards his car when he approaches the drive. Again, this would not happen if there was no source of food for the cat in the first place, he would be happy to come in and find a bowl of food and water inside his own home.

Call me callous, but putting food down outside of your own home is making a rod for your own back. If you do so because there are strays in the area that would otherwise go hungry, then you have to understand that by placing down food, there is always the possibility that a neighbours animal is going to eat it - it's the laws of nature to be opportunistic after all.
Jun 27, 2011
 Oh, I do.........
by: Dorothy

I'm not sure how many I'm feeding, but yes I feed my neighbor's cats. There are four that I know of that come for a taste treat, but not regularly. There is a big orange feral Tom cat that comes around on the weekends and checks out the cat bowls. He is usually fed by a nice lady that runs the maintenance department for the local schools. She was also responsible for the local TNR program years ago. Mr. Orange Tom cat has been neutered.

I really don't mind feeding the hungry ones, though I can't say they are all hungry. I let the neighbors know their cats are getting extra food. I suppose if they don't like it they'd put the cats in. No one is eating Bigfoot's food. He's my indoor/outdoor cat. He has no interest in the stinky wet stuff I put outside, nor the dry. He has his own dry food, and he won't eat anything else.

I put food outside very early in the morning. Yellow is the first to munch. She always leaves a bit, and goes to Shadow's house waiting for him to come out. If he does, they both come back. If there are two bowls down, she always eats out of the same bowl he is eating from. I am sure she likes to have their heads so close together. I'm convinced actually. If Shadow doesn't come out, she'll come back and eat some more.

When she's off and waiting, sometimes I catch an opossum getting into the food. I chase him off. He toddles slowly away, usually coming back just to test the waters.

Mr. Toes and Mr. Bully boy come and eat too now and then. If Shadow is around, they'll force him off the bowl. They make sounds that are spooky. Growling, hissing, spitting.

Sometimes if I'm to be out late, I'll leave food out at odd times. It is always gone. I have no idea how many critters I'm feeding sometimes. It's out in the open on the patio, and it's a free-for- all.

I don't count the money. It could be scary.

I can't leave dry food out all day. The Blue Jays eat it down to the last grain. As does the tiny free ranging show chicken that belongs to my neighbor's daughter. The chicken (Laura) a 4-H project. She loves cat food.

It's a jungle out there, and I love it.

Dorothy

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Written material by Michael Broad and Helmi Flick's photos are copyright protected - please respect it. My thanks to all the contributors both in articles and comments for adding interest to this site through personal experience and insights.