Awwwww... she is a cutie, if I do say so myself!

And that was suppose to be that she was going to swat someone... not swap them! Unless she swapped owners? :(

Given the length of time you've been taking care of her & the *documented* (you can get copies from your vet) money you've spent on her care, & the fact that the neighbors not only never put up a poster but failed to feed her adequately or look after her health, I think you've got law as well as logic on your side.

Please let us know how it went.

I don't even need copies from the vet. Much of her paperwork and rabies tag is sitting right here beside me as I wait for the woman to get home.

Just picked up my daughter from school early. It was suppose to be her and I for a "rewards lunch" for her excellent performance in school the last 9 weeks but we decided to stay home. She just went over to the friends house and says Angel is not in the cage any longer. DD is 14 so she knows her cat and I am sure that she wasn't mistaken, given her reaction when she came home yesterday.

I am waiting for the animal control officer to call me back. He can let me know how best to handle this because I don't want trouble or hard feelings in the neighborhood. It's the same guy that picked up the kittens the first time and tried to catch Angel. Pretty positive he'll remember that.

Just don't understand why she is not in the cage any longer and if turned loose after I went over there last night, why she hasn't come home. We have been calling and calling to her.

I doubt if the law would be on anyone's side in this matter since the cat clearly doesn't belong to anyone. The people who currently have her in a cage already have a history of denying ownership, and you are aware that the cat is being fed by several people in the neighborhood with whom you acknowledge she has the same type of relationship that she has with your family, so she clearly isn't yours, either. You were kind enough to absorb costs for her vet care, but I don't believe that establishes any sort of legal ownership.

If, in fact, possession is 90% of the law, the owners of the cage in which Angel currently resides are her legal owners. You can always present them with your vet bills and tell them that they can either reimburse you immediately in full, or they can relinquish ownership of the cat to you. If they give you the cat and you continue to allow her to enjoy her outdoor lifestyle, it's probable that either the same folks or some other well-meaning "rescuer" will grab her and make her theirs again.

But again, I doubt if the law is going to help any of you in this situation. Chances are that if the authorities were brought into it, they'd simply confiscate the cat and put her into the shelter where she could be legally adopted.

Laurie

Laurie - obviously my next door neighbor would agree with you because he said the cat belongs to -us-, meaning me, him and another neighbor. We all sit together in the backyard and laugh at her antics. She's such a character and certainly has an attitude. It very well could be that those other people feel like the cat belongs to them as well.

Anyway, my bold neighbor just walked down the street. He says he is going to have a look in the cage for himself. He's kinda in a huff about the whole thing and I'm afraid things are going to get ugly... and I just don't want any part of the ugliness!

And I don't want it to come down to a matter of the law, either. Not going to make any excuses for the cat roaming freely, only to state that we have done the best by her that we could.

Unfortunately, it's my daughter that is suffering and hopefully not the cat. I just don't get that... keeping cats in cages outside. Maybe they take them out every day and play with them. Who knows?

I think the best thing in your situation is to have animal control come and take Angel to the shelter. That way no neighbor can blame any other neighbor, and whoever wants to assume legal ownership can go to the shelter and adopt her officially.

Well, the lady finally made it home and I showed her a picture of Angel. Claims she's never seen her before. Told her that my daughter said she saw Angel in the cage and she said that DD must have seen one of her cats that is also a grey tabby. DD is sure it was Angel and is now rather angry and insists they have the cat inside. All I can say is, they won't keep her in long and she'll come home. The man is an invalid and she'll dart out the door when he's trying to go out.

The AC officer called and said the cat belongs to me simply because she has a veterinarian record in my name over the last 3 years. Don't know if that's true or not. At this point it doesn't matter if the lady insists that the cat isn't there.

My neighbor said they have not only one cage, but two. Each about 4X6X4, with sleeping ledges. There were 4 cats in each cage and they did have food and water and the cages were covered with tarps.

My neighbor and my back yards are closed in with privacy fencing. He was talking about running netting inside the fence to keep Angel in if she comes home. I'm not quite sure exactly what he is talking about but it seems like a good idea if he knows what to do.

So now I am just waiting for my husband to get home and see what he says.

Some cities put a limit on the number of cats or dogs you can own. Does your city have any kind of limit? Check out this news article about a Los Angeles woman and her rats.

Calif. Woman Found With 120 Pet Rats

Last Updated:
06-06-07 at 11:01AM

LOS ANGELES -- Officers seized more than 100 pet rats, dozens of rabbits and other animals including several birds from the home of an 81-year-old woman, who was later treated at a hospital for what appeared to be bites, authorities said.

"The woman had no food in the house for herself and seemed disoriented," said Annette Ramirez, an officer with the city's Animal Services Department. "Her arms were covered with open wounds apparently caused by animal bites."

Animal control officers discovered the scene while investigating a report Monday of unkempt conditions at a home in suburban Wilmington. In all, they found about 120 rats, 25 rabbits, six parakeets, a dog, a quail and a cockatiel, she said.

The woman, identified as Wanda Langstom, was overwhelmed by how quickly the rats reproduced, Ramirez said.

"She said it just started with two but it got out of hand," Ramirez said.

Most of the animals were in fair condition, but two rabbits needed medical attention. They will all be available for adoption after being treated by a veterinarian, she said.

Moonie57 I am so sorry your cat went missing she looks very sweet! I think that lady has your cat and that is why the man would not answer the phone or the door. I am sorry your daughter is so sad. Mebbe it will come home soon if it gets outside. I hope so!

Thanks lablover. No sign of Angel yet, though.

andrea - i saw that on the news earlier. Don't think there is a limit here.

I think the person who pays for vet bills for the cat is the owner. I hope she comes home to you. She looks like she has an attitude. I have two who look like her. Nothing cuter than a tabby.

Thanks, lily.

No sign of Angel still.

Since the animal control officer has confirmed that your three-year history of veterinary records are proof of your ownership of Angel, believe him/her. If you do find out that the folks with the cat cages are holding Angel in their home, you now have AC on your side. You can ask the officer to go to their home and recover Angel for you.

If Angel is returned to you or does show up on her own, it would be a good idea to put a collar and ID tag on her so that no one else will pick her up as a stray and keep her.

Laurie

It doesn't sound to me as if Angel will ever really belong to anyone. She can't be kept inside and if left outside there's no way of preventing her from visiting the other homes for a handout and those people are going to consider her their own to a point.

If you manage to bring her home and establish that you are the official owner, what then? Your neighbors may demand that she be kept on your property and that will be extremely difficult to do. If they don't she'll continue in her current lifestyle anyway.

You've taken care of the spaying and shots to see that she stays as healthy as possible in her circumstances and that she doesn't create a group of feral cats. You also took care of the kittens she already had. You did all this because you cared and that won't change no matter who tries to claim her.

I think if the neighbor has her inside, they won't be able to hold her for long. I would keep a check on the local shelters in case they take her to one instead of just setting her free when it becomes too impossible to hold her.

The AC officer just left here... seemed to be annoyed that he was sent. Anyway, he talked to the couple and they claim they don't have the cat and haven't seen it. He said he could see inside the house and saw several cats but none that looked like Angel. My daughter is still adamant that Angel was in the cage outside yesterday.

There hasn't been not one call from anyone concerning Angel. One boy did say yesterday that he might have seen her Tuesday. He lives on the street behind me, 3 houses down, kind of catty cornered to the people with the cat cages. But, I'm honestly beginning to believe the people don't have her, and if she had been caged as DD says, they released her. Can't see how they are keeping her in the house because I know how she is when she wants out and I'm busy and don't let her out that exact moment that she's ready. I just can't imagine them keeping her locked in a room. What would be the purpose? Who's going to deal with a yowling cat and let it tear up their door, carpet or flooring as it tries to dig out? And why would they do that after all this time? Just doesn't seem reasonable.

My neighbor is positive the cat is there, just because he believes my daughter. He is outside right now sewing together some long black netting. I think it might be fishing nets. Somehow he is going to attach it to the inside of our fencing so Angel can't climb out. We're talking a good 800 ft at least! Don't know if he has enough netting or not... it's great big piles of the stuff so I don't know. And he might just be wasting his time. But, he's retired and always keeping busy with something. So I guess I will go and let him know what AC said.

If Angel comes back, you have to get some type of outdoor cat containment. There are plenty of different types of outdoor cat confinement systems available to keep your cat in your yard. It sounds like your neighbor is working on that for you... which is nice.

If you do an internet search for "outdoor cat containment", you'll find several different types of systems. They may not be cheap, but losing your kitty may make one these systems worth the price.

Guess who's home!

And guess who's tearing up the floor and door already.

It doesn't matter... it's only a utility room, but as you can see the subflooring was replaced about a year ago and the drywall removed... because she torn it up! *lol* She actually dug at the floor until she ripped away the tile and had the start of a hole in the plywood. And that wasn't from trying to keep her in, but from when we weren't diligent to let her out immediately.

I'm going to try to keep her in a few days and see if the fence thingy gets done and if it will actually keep her in. That's going to be one ugly look.

Wish now that I hadn't taken today off from work, then I could have stayed home with her tomorrow.

I'm thinking she -was- in those people's house and they let her out because AC went there. She's fine. Had a small snack, layed down and groomed herself then headed for the utility room door. She is very LOUD when she wants out. :)

I'm so glad she's home. She's a pretty cat..looks just like my Henry, who also is a character..Good luck w/ the netting.