I've posted before about Larry. I thought he was a stray or more likely abandoned and I've been feeding him for over a month now and trying to find a home for him (my wife is allergic so I can't bring him in). I found out today he has a home. One of my neighbors owns him. The problem is he's very thin and not neutered and is allowed to roam around the neighborhood. It seems at least as far a I can tell he's not being taken care of. I'm really torn as to what to do. I've thought about confronting the neighbor but they don't speak English. Any advice would be appreciated.

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[–] impairedimperator@lemmy.zip 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

From the picture he looks fine.

But I know the common internet solution is to just steal other people's pets if you disagree with how they are treated, so I guess you could do that. Technically it's only theft of property, so not that major of a crime. And if the owners don't speak English, chances are they won't report. Just be a bit sad about it.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago

I'm not going to steal Larry from his original owners, that option is not on the table. Keep in mind that picture was taken after a month of me feeding him. When he first showed up he was really skinny.

[–] Etterra@discuss.online 1 points 6 hours ago

Call the ASPCA. They can investigate the situation.

[–] psx_crab@lemmy.zip 20 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

The most you can do is neuter him and keep feeding him, but seeing his hair, i'd say he's been doing okay, clean too. Unless he's skeletal or really obvious malnutritioned, weight and body size is irrelevant, maybe he's a light eater. After neutered he'll likely chonked up. But since he got an owner you might need to talk to the owner about that.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 4 points 8 hours ago

Yeah, it's obviously hard to tell, but that one picture, Larry looks very healthy. I see way too many people with chunky cats,

I'm going to take OP's word for it that the cat isn't neutered, and that's obviously something that should be addressed. Unfortunately, Larry looks older than 5-6 months, so not gonna be pleasant.

[–] MouldyCat@feddit.uk 16 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Confronting the neighbour sounds a bit combative, maybe instead try to befriend them. You could then get a better idea of how well they're looking after him and offer them your advice about what he needs.

Sometimes families get a cat for a child, who then loses interest, leaving no one who really cares or pays attention to the cat to pick up on his needs. But on the other hand, they may well love him, and think they are looking after him well.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 7 points 16 hours ago

Poor choice of words on my part. I want to keep things friendly but it's a little tough when the message is "your cat seems neglected".

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 9 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

I took in a stray male cat a few months back. I tried to find an owner but no luck.

I got him neutered a few weeks after I took him in and got a few lbs on him. He was half starved when I took him in.

Anyway.

He's had some health issues. I had him tested for FIV at the vet and he was positive.

FIV is like HIV but for cats. Same progression.

Virus slowly decimates the immune system until there is no immune system and cat dies from some common infection that usually their body could easily fight.

It shortens their lifespan considerably. And even minor health problems often persist and get worse. Dental. Skin problems. Lung and heart. Often they lose a lot of weight once it progresses.

It's just a bad situation.

I mention this because it's actually a very common virus in outdoor unneutered males.

It's often spread from fights with each other.

Neutered males don't get in fights as much. Significantly lowering their risk.

Even if the cat already has it, neutering him will reduce chance of him getting hurt from fights. And of spreading it.

Plus street kittens have low life expectancy. Best to help prevent those sad deaths.

Also. Google translate. I've used it to talk to people. It has a voice option. It's clunky but you can use it to talk to the owner.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I had no idea about FIV to be honest I'm learning about cats as I go (I never took care of one before). That is the saddest thing I've heard in awhile.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Yeah I was pretty upset when I learned he had it. I think a lot of people don't realize it's out there and common.

So neutering isn't just to prevent street kittens but could help reduce the infection rate.

There are other viruses that are pretty bad for cats. Like the lukemia one. I'm not sure if it's transmitted the same. But probably since it's a virus.

There is an adolescent male with a collar on that comes up to my porch some times.

I've been trying to figure out who the owner is. Let them know that local outdoor cats around the neighborhood have FIV. They need to get him neutered and should honestly keep him inside.

[–] seathru@quokk.au 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Personally, I have no qualms neutering any untagged/unchipped cats that start hanging around. At best it's providing a community service. At worst, I'm encroaching on some unknown neighbor's "freedom" to let their pets run wild and free. But mostly it's because it helps keep my inside cats calmer.

Larry looks like he's doing ok. I wouldn't have any immediate concerns about his diet.

Edit: is that a bed of catnip/cat mint?

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Its a bed of cat mint and Larry loves it.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

If Larry has a home there's a decent chance he's tagged / chipped.

Also, there's lot of good reasons to spay and neuter pets, your personal convenience is not a good reason.

[–] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 2 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago) (2 children)

Personally, I have no qualms neutering any untagged/unchipped cats that start hanging around.

woah that's wild

edit: and not in a good way

[–] LePoisson@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Man we already got all the fuckin cats we need and the ones that are outdoors are a nuisance that murders the shit out of birds and other native wildlife.

If someone is just letting their cat run around freely without any way of knowing the cat has an "owner" - I say get them neutered or spayed. At least it'll reduce the number of kittens and help with feral cat control.

I say this as someone who's had multiple pet cats.

Edit: to be clear I also am nice and friendly to the outdoor cats I see but it is kind of irresponsible to just let them run free in suburbia. Maybe out in the countryside I could see. But cats will kill for fun so it's not like keeping them well fed stops the whole bird murder machine problem.

[–] seathru@quokk.au 7 points 15 hours ago

How is that different from trap and release programs?

It's not, I volunteer for those too. This is just on my dime.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 6 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Be pretty funny if Larry disappeared for a few days and came back without his cute little furry kitty balls.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 3 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I've considered this option but it's pretty extreme and could lead to a war with the neighbors (which I'm not up for).

[–] tacgnol@thelemmy.club 2 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

But would they know it was you? Honestly I think when it comes to outdoors cats, it's free for all when it comes to spay/neuter. Can't afford it? I do it for you. You're simply irresponsible? I won't be.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Good point, I'm seriously considering it. I'm going to talk to the owners first.

[–] tacgnol@thelemmy.club 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The bad part here is that once you talk to them, if you neuter him without their agreement, they might become hostile. They'll know it was you who did it. But then again, if they see you feeding cats, or notice that their cat is around your place a lot, they might figure it out anyway. Or if a neighbor tells them.

[–] fiendishplan@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Yeah I can't have enmities that close to where I live. 😀 I think I'm going to try talking to them as best I can and strongly suggest they get him fixed.

[–] tacgnol@thelemmy.club 1 points 3 hours ago

I guess it's best if you give them a flyer from a free clinic too, if you have one, just so they're more likely to follow up if they choose to. Or a handwritten note with info on free programs.

[–] masterspace@lemmy.ca 3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

Keep in mind that any advice you get here will be from indoor humans who spend most of their time on Reddit/Lemmy and aren't very adjusted to the outdoors / real world.

If he's actually skinny, keep leaving him food, that's all you really need to be concerned about.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone -1 points 6 hours ago

I mean, you shouldn’t really feed a neighbour’s cat anyway, as they might have social dietary requirements. Though I suppose in this case if he’s really not neutered he may never have been to a vet anyway,

[–] crenquis@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago

We've taken ones that don't seem taken care of and gotten them good homes. A big motivation for us is that any street boys in or area eventually end up with FIV.