Writes our submitter in Canada: “This is my neighbour’s cat, Byron. He’s a lovely boy, but given the chance, he’ll steal into my apartment and scarf down my cats’ kibble. The other day Bryon visited sporting this new heart-shaped tag.”
related post:
Please stop feeding my cat!
103 responses so far ↓
#1
nativefloridian
I’m not one of the ‘cats should always be indoors at all times’ crowd, but…
If his cat’s on a restricted diet, it’s on him to do the restricting.
Sep 22, 2012 at 2:37 pm rating: 73
#2
StephM
Crazy debates in 3…2…1.
Sep 22, 2012 at 2:58 pm rating: 75
#3
Valerie
That’s pretty cute! He must be one of those cats that mooches all around the neighborhood. “Why is Poofy so fat, he’s hardly eating anything!”
Sep 22, 2012 at 3:28 pm rating: 39
#4
missy13d69
I would send him away with a note attached to that collar. “If he comes to my house, we’re going to eat BLT’s and watch Sesame Street together. Just like always.”
Sep 22, 2012 at 3:39 pm rating: 146
#5
bitchy the dwarf
so do people in apartments routinely leave their doors open? Or is the cat sneak out of his own apartment and then just wait for another door to open?
Sep 22, 2012 at 7:17 pm rating: 6
#6
Ali Longworth
Wonder how long it will be before Bryon manages to ditch the tag?
Sep 22, 2012 at 7:27 pm rating: 9
#7
Meh
I don’t see the big deal. Many cats tend to throw up when they eat food they aren’t used to. I’ve been tempted to get one for my cat. I don’t expect anyone to guard his dietary intake for me, but maybe it’ll stop people from specially putting out food for him that he’ll just puke up in my bed later.
Sep 22, 2012 at 7:49 pm rating: 24
#8
Polly
Don’t worry. Byron probably won’t be bothering you too much longer. Owners who let their cats run wild sentence them to a shortened lifespan. It’s a tough world out there. Oh well.
Sep 22, 2012 at 8:15 pm rating: 16
#9
Dot
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think this is too unreasonable. In the US, it is very common for cats to be indoors only, and people get into huge fights about it (hence the indoor/outdoor debate here on PAN). But in other places like the UK, it is common and completely normal for cats to be outdoors. Some people even say its cruel to keep them indoors only.
Its easy to say “well the owner should just keep them indoors and out of possible food”, and I even agree that that would be best, but if the cat has been outdoors all its life, it may be hard to keep indoors. Or maybe in this particular part of Canada its normal for cats to roam around. In that case, I don’t think its unreasonable to ask people not to feed your cat. There are no name calling, no fake smileys, no aggressive undertones, just a straight forward request not to feed it. People with good intention might be feeding it to be nice, without understanding that its actually overeating.
Sep 22, 2012 at 8:16 pm rating: 37
#10
Conaco
What a nice looking kitty. Since Byron didn’t put that tag on himself I’d ignore it.
Sep 22, 2012 at 8:26 pm rating: 13
#11
bitchy the dwarf
put some mothballs outside the door. They’re cheap and cats don’t like the smell. This will probably keep the resident cats IN and Byron OUT. Granted your front door area will smell like mothballs for awhile…
Sep 22, 2012 at 8:42 pm rating: 4
#12
Bosco
I never minded other people feeding my excessively fat cat when he made his neighborly rounds. What I did mind was when one of his “other women” would see him in my yard with me and start a conversation about the poor little starving stray. Ummm little and starving? He weighed 17 pounds!
Sep 22, 2012 at 10:01 pm rating: 20
#13
0rd
Sounds like Byron has quite the reputation. It’s probably not just your kibble that’s being pilfered. I think the tag is more amusing than passive aggressive.
Sep 23, 2012 at 12:02 am rating: 17
#14
Lil'
What’s funny about these notes to me is the assumption that the neighbors are voluntarily feeding the cats. My neighbor’s cat would constantly clean out my cat’s bowl. Yet, she told me that couldn’t understand why her cat was overweight. It wasn’t until my cat tired of it and reminded the other cat who was boss that it stopped. I never once voluntarily fed that cat.
Sep 23, 2012 at 7:08 am rating: 21
#15
Kathleen
Don’t worry, when your fat outdoor cat comes over, I’ll just let my dogs eat it. Problem solved!
Sep 23, 2012 at 10:17 am rating: 11
#16
aggiechicken
He won’t have to worry about people feeding him when someone finally happens to poison him as is common where I am. Or shoot him.
Sep 23, 2012 at 11:19 am rating: 5
#17
shepd
Don’t leave your cat outside. It doesn’t belong on other’s property, and more importantly, it could die.
Example: There’s a problem with rather large rats around here (or so I’m told by the neighbours–I can believe it because I found some odd holes dug under the deck). The neighbours wanted to let me know they laid out some poison.
The rats are gone, and fortunately for my cat, I don’t let it outside, so I told the neighbours do as you must to keep our places pestilence free.
Sep 23, 2012 at 11:09 pm rating: 4
#18
ano
I wish my neighbours cat would stop coming into my yard. He harasses my rabbits and teases my indoor cat.
I’ve set up some deterrants and raised the fence height. It’s coming up to spring so I’m going to be spraying my plants. All I hope is he doesn’t eat them because he’ll get sick. Maybe I can write a note on his collar letting them know to TRY and keep him inside for the week I’m doing garden care.
Which honestly, most people wouldn’t warn. But I don’t want him to die or get sick because the owners won’t keep their cat on their property. This is a city. It’s NOT safe to let him in my yard. What if I get a dog? It might not be cat friendly. I’d feel horrible if it got the cat, but it would be their fault for letting it roam into my enclosed yard.
Sep 24, 2012 at 3:23 am rating: 9
#19
Ashes
Sometimes I wonder if posting something to Passive-Agressive notes is passive agreeive…
Like, why couldn’t you go talk to this person about their cat sneaking into your apartment instead of taking pictures of him and posting them online?
Endless cycle, people.
Sep 24, 2012 at 11:25 am rating: 4
#20
JoDa
I have to side with the submitter here, that this ends up being passive-aggressive. I generally agree that it is fine to tell people not to feed an outdoor cat, particularly one with a collar and tags (though I don’t see the ownership tags on this boy?), because many people will go ahead and feed outdoor cats when they beg. But when the cat is “stealing” food that you never intended them to have, through no fault of your own outside of opening your OWN DOOR OR WINDOW, then it’s up to the owner of the sneaky cat to take action and prevent the cat from roaming to find food it doesn’t need. I have had many cats jump up onto my patio to steal my dog’s food when I’ve taken him outside to enjoy breakfast on the patio. Not only does that annoy me endlessly because he does not like kitties and goes completely ape-shit when one invades his space, but I had no intention of feeding the cat, only my dog, and with expensive food, to boot. And then when both I and my dog who is trying to make that cat his dessert try to chase the cat away, it hisses and swipes at us, because, well, it’s entitled to that food and humans are just supposed to be okay with that. Yeah…not okay. Just FYI, I don’t pull my dog back in these situations, so if he ends up killing your cat because it invaded my property to steal food not intended for him, well, I guess if the cat has tags I’ll just leave him in a shoebox on your doorstep… Without tags, I’ll just put him in the trash.
Sep 24, 2012 at 9:32 pm rating: 2
#21
The Elf
Isn’t aristocratic excess and hours of idleness something you’d expect from a cat named Byron? He probably charms all the ladies into giving him what he wants. Don Juan Gato indeed.
Sep 25, 2012 at 6:19 am rating: 8
#22
Michele
How about KEEP YOUR CAT INDOORS where it’s safer and he doesn’t torture wild animals and baby birds?
Sep 25, 2012 at 4:05 pm rating: 2
#23
Stephanie
Keeping cats inside is ideal, yes, but not always possible. There is no flyscreen in the windows of my house. If a window is open, the cat is gone. With all the windows closed, she’d probably die of heat exhaustion.
Just.. don’t feed other peoples pets. Is that so obscene a proposal?
Sep 26, 2012 at 5:50 am rating: 1
#24
JB
Anyone who understands basic feline nutrition does not feed their cat dry food, and it’s possible the cat’s owner doesn’t want the cat in junk food that is going to negatively impact its health. I agree that this would be best solved by keeping the cat indoors, but beyond that I completely understand not wanting others to feed your cat unhealthy kibble.
Sep 26, 2012 at 12:35 pm rating: 0
#25
Ann
Is an apostrophe not an option in the tag maker? And if not, why not write “do not”?
I’d like to see this escalate into a passive-aggressive note war conducted via the cat. You know, have someone make him a tag that says “Don’t let him out, then.” And so on. Maybe throw in one in Comic Sans to get that war going, too (“Do not create custom pet tags in Comic Sans”).
Sep 27, 2012 at 4:57 pm rating: 3
#26
Jill
It’s just winter fur!
Sep 28, 2012 at 1:28 pm rating: 1
#27
Amanda
Our next door neighbors have this cat that is one of those “king of the neighborhood” types. He saunters all over the place, and acts like cars speeding down the street are just in his way. He’s not an indoor/outdoor cat because his owners want him that way; he’s an indoor/outdoor cat because he chooses to be. Apparently keeping him inside is impossible, as he’ll bolt out the door the second it’s opened. He also won’t use the litter box and will pee in the house. His owners buy him a new collar at least once a month, but he somehow manages to get it off. We made the mistake of giving him a cat treat once when we mistakenly thought he was abandoned by the previous owners of our home, and now he never stops begging for food. This 25 pound beast of a cat acts like he’s never been fed and never received a tummy rub in his life. He manages to bust his way into our house at least twice a week, which pisses my (completely afraid of the outdoors) cat off to no end. All in all, though, we don’t mind him, since he manages to rid our yard of gophers for us.
Long story short: all cats are different. Some are just stubborn outdoor beasts and will always be that way.
Sep 28, 2012 at 2:35 pm rating: 2
#28
AlfaCowboy
Wandering and stray cats are the same as raccoons, possums, rats, etc. If you want a domesticated animal, take responsibility for it. It’s not your neighbors’ job to monitor your cat’s diet, clean up its poop or make certain it’s safe. Unattended cats getting into my garbage, crapping in my yard and breeding under my porch are varmints, period. Cat owners who let their cats roam and crap everywhere get zero respect from me. They’re simply lazy folks who want a pet without responsibility. I hate them.
Oct 4, 2012 at 11:30 am rating: 1
#29
Brillig
Someone needs to make a compilation of the US/Europe indoor/outdoor cat debates that happens on here *every time* anything cat-related comes up.
I wouldn’t have considered letting our cat out in Virginia because: rabies, crazy teens with guns, very cat unfriendly neighbourhood design, very large houses. I don’t know that there’s anywhere in the UK I’d consider it humane to keep a cat cooped up indoors permanently.
Oct 8, 2012 at 9:07 pm rating: 1
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