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.
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.
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”.
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.
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 intil 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.
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.
Be pretty funny if Larry disappeared for a few days and came back without his cute little furry kitty balls.
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).
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?
Its a bed of cat mint and Larry loves it.
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
How is that different from trap and release programs?
It’s not, I volunteer for those too. This is just on my dime.
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.
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.
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.
