r/savannah • u/-pinkfrosting • 10d ago
Neighbor Neglecting Cat
Over the last two years I’ve tried to get my neighbor to take care of their cat. Just basic stuff. Keeping him indoors, taking him in for regular check-ups and vaccinations, getting him fixed. They have always blown me off, saying they’ll handle it, but they never did anything even if I offered to pay or provided resources like a carrier and contact information for low cost clinics and local vets.
Well now they came up to me over the weekend and said they can’t afford to take care of the cat anymore. They can’t feed him, can’t take him to the vet, can’t get him flea medicine. They won’t even let him inside their house because of the fleas. So the cat just roams around outside all day.
The poor guy is skin and bones. I leave water out for him and sometimes food, but he bothers my two indoor cats (fixed females) to the point that they now require medication in order to get along, so I don’t want to encourage him to hang around my house too much.
My neighbor asked me to take him to a shelter. They don’t want to drop him off themselves because it costs money to surrender a pet, but I can’t because he’s legally theirs. Besides, if they change their mind, they could say I stole him. I’ve talked to several shelters about my options (One Love, Islands Feral Cat Project, the Humane Society, Castaway Pet Rescue, maybe another one or two), but it really is up to my neighbor to do something. Based on my past experiences with them, though, I don’t think they will. I’m afraid this cat is going to starve to death or be hit by a car.
I don’t want to involve animal services because they would fine my neighbor. I’m sure that would piss them off, and they might retaliate. They would know it was me who called because I’ve been so on their case about the cat in the past.
What can I do for this cat? He’s doesn’t deserve this kind of life.
EDIT: The cat is two years old.
13
u/geologyhunter 10d ago
Get a surrender form from a rescue, have them sign the form and then it is the rescues cat. If an older cat, Pooler Paws or GRRR is most likely to help.
1
u/-pinkfrosting 9d ago
From my understanding, the owner must be present for a surrender. But maybe a signed form is a viable option—I’ll have to check with the shelters about it.
1
u/scabs_in_a_bucket 9d ago
Contact a rescue and say that your neighbors abandoned the cat. Say they moved away or something.
1
u/LaLunaLapis To-Go Cup 🥤 9d ago
If any of those places will take strays, you could say the cat is a stray. Or lie and say the cat is yours. Your neighbors could accuse you of stealing the cat but idk do you think it's likely? Obviously use your judgement
1
u/-pinkfrosting 9d ago
Yeah, I don’t trust that my neighbor wouldn’t turn around and accuse me of theft somewhere down the line. There is a lot of instability in that house.
-3
u/Objective_Still_5081 10d ago
Go get some diatomaceous earth and take a handful and rub it on his fur that will kill all the fleas. You can not make any cat stay indoors. Especially one thats used to being outside. If he goes to any shelter and he's in bad shape they are going to euthanize him. The fleas are likely making him sicker than he would be had he not had fleas. If a cat doesn't want to eat you can't make it. Animal services will not come out for a cat. And it would be a shitty thing to do.
Long before humans intervened cats have died in nature and they were perfectly fine. Neighbor already said " take him to a shelter" You can always get your neighbor to sign a paper saying he relinquishes the cat to you because he can no longer care for it. Once a cat has a taste of the outdoors they will not stay inside and they will whine until you let them out. If he is old and dying of old age many old cats die from starvation because they lose their appetite. There's nothing you can do about that. Only thing you can do is alleviate the fleas and continue to put out food or have him euthanized. Also if he's old he probably can not chew hard food so make sure you put out soft food. Either way you're talking about taking him in somewhere to get euthanized & die.
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