Ugh. I glanced over the responses but can't even read this thread in full-- it's too depressing.

Let this be a warning to everyone who has a happy, harmless indoor/outdoor cat: keep your cat inside at all times, lest it be subjected to the crazies like those on this thread who would trap it, knowing that it's someone's pet.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you cannot trap and get rid of anything that annoys you as you come about your daily life. Traffic? People in line at the grocery store? Your children? A neighborhood pet is just one of those things. You can stomp and make loud noises and the cat will dash away. Repeat a few times and he/she will realize you are not a friendly environment for it to hang out. That is all fine. But you cannot arbitrarily go around removing things that bother you. You are not the center of the universe and you are not the "decider" (in the words of GW Bush) of what gets to be in your world or not. You are just a bit piece in the cog of the machine -- you have to live with and work with others. "Plays nicely with others" -- you know, the thing we all learned in kindergarten (lr earlier)?

She has a right to enjoy her property and keep other people's pets off her property. I would spray it it cold water or call animal control to come get the "feral cat".

Anonymous wrote:OP -- are you still reading this thread? Our cat got out of the house during our recent move and we've been unable to find her for 2 weeks. We've looked at shelters, distributed flyers. What area do you live in? Is this cat a gray, spayed, long-haired tabby? Please respond!

Bumping this post for you. Hope you find your cat.

Anonymous wrote:Cat people are so annoying!!! Trap the thing (humanely) and enjoy your porch.

Anonymous wrote:Not sure where OP is, but in FFX it is illegal to allow a pet onto another homeowner's property. Unfortunately, you'd have to know who the cat belonged to, and risk pissing off your neighbor royally.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/animal/animal-trespass.htm

They can be summoned to court and fined.

Anyone who did this would be the pariah of the neighborhood pretty quickly.

Not sure where OP is, but in FFX it is illegal to allow a pet onto another homeowner's property. Unfortunately, you'd have to know who the cat belonged to, and risk pissing off your neighbor royally.

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/animal/animal-trespass.htm

They can be summoned to court and fined.

Anonymous wrote:OP -- are you still reading this thread? Our cat got out of the house during our recent move and we've been unable to find her for 2 weeks. We've looked at shelters, distributed flyers. What area do you live in? Is this cat a gray, spayed, long-haired tabby? Please respond!

Maybe you can ask Jeff what area the ISP is coming from (although they may be at work).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. This is making me do sad. A friendly cat that belongs to someone should not be brought to a shelter.
You have no heart, OP.

Get over it. OP should be able to enjoy her porch. If what she says is true, she can't hang out in her own porch because of a stray cat and the effect in her allergies.

I am highly allergic to cats. However, in my 50 years on planet Earth, I have never haqd an allergy attack hanging around cats outdoors

So to summarize - OP should totally trap the cat, as long as it is taken to a no kill shelter and as long as she notifies the list serv and puts papers up all over the neighborhood. This will be good for the song birds and for the mice, however the mice are a nuisance which is why she should suck it up, deal with the allergies and absolutely not kill the cat which is obviously bad news for the songbirds and the mice.

CAT=LOSE
SONGBIRDS=WIN
MICE=WIN
HOMEOWNER=WIN

OP - why don't you spray your yard for mosquitoes - this will kill the mosquitoes, and possibly the honeybees, however fewer bugs may mean fewer rodents which will possibly bore the cat to death and he will go back to his house. Also, you know, no misquotes.

MOSQUITOES=LOSE
HONEYBEES=LOSE
SONGBIRDS=WIN
MICE=PUSH
CAT=PUSH


HOMEOWNER=WIN

OP -- are you still reading this thread? Our cat got out of the house during our recent move and we've been unable to find her for 2 weeks. We've looked at shelters, distributed flyers. What area do you live in? Is this cat a gray, spayed, long-haired tabby? Please respond!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most house cats go outside. This is part of life with other human beings -- realizing that there are cats out and about, who belong to a neighbor somewhere close by.

What planet are you all from where this does not ordinarily happen? Because we are set in our ways on planet earth and you're not likely to change us. You might as well accept us for who we are while you are here.

Another apologist. Only irresponsible owners let their cats roam everywhere. They shouldn't whine if something happens to the cat.

I'm not an apologist. Our cat is indoors only. I'm just accepting of life around me -- most cats go outdoors and I don't think my neighbors are less responsible or loving towards their cats than I am toward mine. We have lots of cats roaming freely in our neighborhood. To rail against something as ubiquitous as pet cats roaming outdoors is a bit mentally ill to me. And to insist that people who let their cats out are irresponsible is definitely mental, since you surely know people with outdoor cats who are decent, upstanding individuals, good neighbors and loving, responsible pet owners. And yet you choose to be incensed and pretend otherwise. Weird.

No, I don't know anyone who lets their cats roam. There are neighbors who do but they are not my friends. The owners may be all you say. However if someone chooses to let their cats roam, they are subjecting it to a level of risk that indoor-only cats don't face.
If you can't or won't understand this simple fact then you are delusional. Look in the mirror before throwing stones.

Letting your cat roam all around the neighborhood is not safe for the cat or very nice for your neighbors. ye, people do it, but that does not make it right. neighbors cat poops all over our yard.

Weird, I've never seen cat poop in our yard and we have multiple outdoor cats I can see roaming around. I can think of three close neighbors who have them, plus the cats I see regularly that I don't know. The only problem for me is that it bugs my indoor cat who gets his fur up sitting at the window. But I figure that is part of being a cat and not too bad for him, as far as "bad" things go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most house cats go outside. This is part of life with other human beings -- realizing that there are cats out and about, who belong to a neighbor somewhere close by.

What planet are you all from where this does not ordinarily happen? Because we are set in our ways on planet earth and you're not likely to change us. You might as well accept us for who we are while you are here.

Another apologist. Only irresponsible owners let their cats roam everywhere. They shouldn't whine if something happens to the cat.

I'm not an apologist. Our cat is indoors only. I'm just accepting of life around me -- most cats go outdoors and I don't think my neighbors are less responsible or loving towards their cats than I am toward mine. We have lots of cats roaming freely in our neighborhood. To rail against something as ubiquitous as pet cats roaming outdoors is a bit mentally ill to me. And to insist that people who let their cats out are irresponsible is definitely mental, since you surely know people with outdoor cats who are decent, upstanding individuals, good neighbors and loving, responsible pet owners. And yet you choose to be incensed and pretend otherwise. Weird.

No, I don't know anyone who lets their cats roam. There are neighbors who do but they are not my friends. The owners may be all you say. However if someone chooses to let their cats roam, they are subjecting it to a level of risk that indoor-only cats don't face.
If you can't or won't understand this simple fact then you are delusional. Look in the mirror before throwing stones.

Letting your cat roam all around the neighborhood is not safe for the cat or very nice for your neighbors. ye, people do it, but that does not make it right. neighbors cat poops all over our yard.

Agree, BUT, you still to not get the right to then remove offending thing in your life, even more so when it is a LIVING thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most house cats go outside. This is part of life with other human beings -- realizing that there are cats out and about, who belong to a neighbor somewhere close by.

What planet are you all from where this does not ordinarily happen? Because we are set in our ways on planet earth and you're not likely to change us. You might as well accept us for who we are while you are here.

Another apologist. Only irresponsible owners let their cats roam everywhere. They shouldn't whine if something happens to the cat.

I'm not an apologist. Our cat is indoors only. I'm just accepting of life around me -- most cats go outdoors and I don't think my neighbors are less responsible or loving towards their cats than I am toward mine. We have lots of cats roaming freely in our neighborhood. To rail against something as ubiquitous as pet cats roaming outdoors is a bit mentally ill to me. And to insist that people who let their cats out are irresponsible is definitely mental, since you surely know people with outdoor cats who are decent, upstanding individuals, good neighbors and loving, responsible pet owners. And yet you choose to be incensed and pretend otherwise. Weird.

No, I don't know anyone who lets their cats roam. There are neighbors who do but they are not my friends. The owners may be all you say. However if someone chooses to let their cats roam, they are subjecting it to a level of risk that indoor-only cats don't face.
If you can't or won't understand this simple fact then you are delusional. Look in the mirror before throwing stones.

Letting your cat roam all around the neighborhood is not safe for the cat or very nice for your neighbors. ye, people do it, but that does not make it right. neighbors cat poops all over our yard.

OP, you cannot trap and get rid of anything that annoys you as you come about your daily life. Traffic? People in line at the grocery store? Your children? A neighborhood pet is just one of those things. You can stomp and make loud noises and the cat will dash away. Repeat a few times and he/she will realize you are not a friendly environment for it to hang out. That is all fine. But you cannot arbitrarily go around removing things that bother you. You are not the center of the universe and you are not the "decider" (in the words of GW Bush) of what gets to be in your world or not. You are just a bit piece in the cog of the machine -- you have to live with and work with others. "Plays nicely with others" -- you know, the thing we all learned in kindergarten (lr earlier)?