my cat has been stolen,can anyone advise?

My neighbour had her cat stolen. The cat was very friendly - but the neighbour was a bit of a feckless owner leaving it out all day and night without food or company etc... the little cat would travel to the local doctors surgery to get petted by all in reception!!! The cat spent three weeks a few miles away ... before being handed in as a "nuisance" to Celia Hammond Shelter. Luckily the cat had distinguishing marks to be identified by ... the owner has SINCE had the cat microchipped.

I think it is advisable for all cat owners to get their pets microchipped as proof of ownership. It would be impossible to prevent a cat from spending the night without its owner but hopefully it would make it easier to reclaim the cat.

i too am quite suprised that the police came for this but i´m glad that they did and that you have your cat back. i too would think it a shame if you had to rehome him if he is happy and settled with you. has the woman definately indicated that even though the police have been involved she will still feed him and encourage him in to her house? obviously for a while he will go there as he will expect to be fed but eventually, if she stops feeding him, he will stop visiting her. as jacqui has said, perhaps you could point out to her that there are hundreds of cats in shelters desperate for a nice home and perhaps she would consider adopting one of those instead?

I´m amazed the police came out for this, but pleased for you that they did and very pleased your neighbour was made hand back your cat like that. It would be a terrible shame if you end up having to rehome him. Would´ve hoped a police appearance would´ve given the neighbour a jolt and discouraged her from doing this again. People who do this really p@@@ me off!!! They know the cat has a perfectly good home, and God knows there´s plenty of cats in rescue so why the bloody hell doesn´t she just go and get one of her own..gggrrrrr!!!!

Well.. got the cat back, looks like we may concider rehoming him to a friend. :) all will work out x

yes police came .spoke to the lady too and she was made to hand him over. we cannot get through to her not to encourage him and although the police were supportive i think we´re going to have to pen him.such a shame.

I´ve just had a quick search round the internet for info re legal rights of cat owners in relation to this problem but can´t find a definitive answer unfortunately. I´ve had this problem in the past and I put a note thru the culprit´s door, pointing out that George was our cat, we were paying insurance for him, buying food etc, and were worrying about him each time he didn´t come home at night, and asking them to stop encouraging him into their home. Did the police come? If so, would be interested to know what legal advice they gave you re your rights in this situation.