Apologies in advance for the essay I’m about to write. Last September my neighbour passed away and her son didn’t want her cat Dobby so he moved in with my husband and I.
He fitted in instantly in fact it was like he’d always been with us, we got him microchipped and put a cat flap in for him so he still had access to the outdoors.
We had been warned about a woman in the next street having people’s cats in her home but didn’t have any problems until November time.
I noticed Dobby started smelling of smoke both my husband and I smoke but not in the house but didn’t think much of it, until one day he didn’t come home which wasn’t like him at all so I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had seen him and possibly share which they did within about ten minutes Dobby came home minus his collar.
The next day the phone rang and my husband answered, it was the woman we’d been warned about saying she’d gotten our number off his collar and that he’d gotten into her house without her knowledge and that she didn’t know until one of her friends had phoned to say she’d seen a post on Facebook that the cat she looked after had gone missing and she’d found him asleep under her dining table.
She then went on to explain Dobby had been visiting her for a while and was company for her as she was a widower and didn’t leave the house much; my husband fell for the widowed old lady story, me on the other hand started to get suspicious, as firstly she didn’t look after Dobby and remember asking my husband how he could of gotten in her home without her knowing as it wasn’t the weather to leave your windows open in the middle of November.
Fast forward to January and five lost collars later I happened to look out the window and I seen Dobby sitting on the end of our driveway and a woman reaching in her pocket and giving him something so I pretended I was putting something in the bin and went outside, Dobby ran straight to me which seemed to annoy her and she asked quite abruptly “who are you?” So I explained Dobby belonged to my husband and I and it was almost like a flip had been switched she turned into sweet old lady mode and explained she was the woman who Dobby had his sleepover with, I apologised for him being any trouble and asked if he ever was in her house for a long time could she please send him home and not keep him overnight (I never bought she didn’t know he was there) she replied that he was no trouble and her home was Dobby’s second home and repeated what she’d told my husband previously.
Last Wednesday night Dobby went out and once again didn’t come home on Thursday, I had a hunch he was in her house so wasn’t too worried as such a little annoyed if I’m being honest after I’d asked her not to keep him in overnight, I think it was about 10am her son knocked on our door to say Dobby was at his mum’s so my husband thanked him for telling us and to send him home thinking it would maybe be within the next few minutes.
When it got to 7pm he decided to knock on her door she opened the door and Dobby ran out. She asked if her son had told us where Dobby was? And said she’d heard him miaowing about 10pm the previous night and opened her window to let him in and that when she opened her door the next day to let him out he’d been frightened by the recycling lorry so had ran and hid under her bed, my husband gave her the benefit of the doubt as he doesn’t like the recycling truck but mentioned to her it had came at 11am and it was now 7pm she then said how she loves having his company and he was curled up on the chair beside her so didn’t want to wake him.
Saturday morning Dobby went out and disappeared again so got to about 6pm and I went to see if again he was in her house I knocked on the door and waited, nothing, knocked again, nothing, after knocking a third time and being at the door possibly for a good 5 minutes the door opened and she said she’d been in the shower (looking surprisingly dry I might add for someone’s shower I’d disturbed) however I apologised for disturbing her and asked her could she stop allowing Dobby to come in her home now as he was getting in but not getting out and if he did sneak in as she put it to as soon as she realised to send him out, she said again she liked having him and would be sad to see him go but would do as I’d asked.
Sunday morning Dobby went out and again disappeared, my husband knocked on her door to see if he was there, no answer, he went again at 5pm no answer 8pm came and by this point I’d lost patience so I went round and knocked until she answered, she opened the door a crack and Dobby came out and I reminded her that she said she wouldn’t let him in again and that she said she was going to send him straight out if he did magic himself through closed windows and doors, she said he had been under her bed all day but couldn’t get to him, she then opened her front door fully and opened her bedroom door, Dobby ran back in her house so I asked her why she’d done that? She replied she was feeling unsteady on her feet and had leaned on the door handle but that she would send Dobby home later on, I refused and said I would wait at the door until she got him, which she did very reluctantly, and once he was out I asked if she would close her front door now and wished her a good night and closed her gate, but stood to the side where she wouldn’t see me, seconds later she opened her front door and was shaking some treats and calling on Dobby, I asked why she was doing that but she closed the front door so when I got home with him we decided it would be best for him to be a house cat as my husband and I were sure she was trying to take Dobby.
It’s been nearly a week and Dobby has turned into a nightmare, he has put a hole in our hallway carpet by the front door when we slept, he’s scratching and biting us, she phoned again on Wednesday in tears asking us to give her Dobby back and that her life wasn’t worth living without Dobby, my husband said about adopting a rescue and she said she didn’t have the time to jump through the hoops the rescue centres ask, my husband obviously refused to give her Dobby but because she asked to give her Dobby back, he got in touch with our vets and the police to just incase she said Dobby was hers. The vets said they would give proof that we owned him however there wasn’t much they could suggest. The police basically told him that there’s nothing they could do as she was giving us him back when we went for him and he was choosing to go in her house.
Last night after being bitten again my husband was all for just unlocking the cat flap and letting him go saying he obviously doesn’t want to be with us anymore so what’s the point in all the hassle?
I’ve grown attached to Dobby and would be devastated if he didn’t live with us, however I keep thinking the police and my husband have a point he can’t be happy with us.
Are we being cruel keeping him in, should we just let him be with her if that’s what going to make them both happy?
He fitted in instantly in fact it was like he’d always been with us, we got him microchipped and put a cat flap in for him so he still had access to the outdoors.
We had been warned about a woman in the next street having people’s cats in her home but didn’t have any problems until November time.
I noticed Dobby started smelling of smoke both my husband and I smoke but not in the house but didn’t think much of it, until one day he didn’t come home which wasn’t like him at all so I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had seen him and possibly share which they did within about ten minutes Dobby came home minus his collar.
The next day the phone rang and my husband answered, it was the woman we’d been warned about saying she’d gotten our number off his collar and that he’d gotten into her house without her knowledge and that she didn’t know until one of her friends had phoned to say she’d seen a post on Facebook that the cat she looked after had gone missing and she’d found him asleep under her dining table.
She then went on to explain Dobby had been visiting her for a while and was company for her as she was a widower and didn’t leave the house much; my husband fell for the widowed old lady story, me on the other hand started to get suspicious, as firstly she didn’t look after Dobby and remember asking my husband how he could of gotten in her home without her knowing as it wasn’t the weather to leave your windows open in the middle of November.
Fast forward to January and five lost collars later I happened to look out the window and I seen Dobby sitting on the end of our driveway and a woman reaching in her pocket and giving him something so I pretended I was putting something in the bin and went outside, Dobby ran straight to me which seemed to annoy her and she asked quite abruptly “who are you?” So I explained Dobby belonged to my husband and I and it was almost like a flip had been switched she turned into sweet old lady mode and explained she was the woman who Dobby had his sleepover with, I apologised for him being any trouble and asked if he ever was in her house for a long time could she please send him home and not keep him overnight (I never bought she didn’t know he was there) she replied that he was no trouble and her home was Dobby’s second home and repeated what she’d told my husband previously.
Last Wednesday night Dobby went out and once again didn’t come home on Thursday, I had a hunch he was in her house so wasn’t too worried as such a little annoyed if I’m being honest after I’d asked her not to keep him in overnight, I think it was about 10am her son knocked on our door to say Dobby was at his mum’s so my husband thanked him for telling us and to send him home thinking it would maybe be within the next few minutes.
When it got to 7pm he decided to knock on her door she opened the door and Dobby ran out. She asked if her son had told us where Dobby was? And said she’d heard him miaowing about 10pm the previous night and opened her window to let him in and that when she opened her door the next day to let him out he’d been frightened by the recycling lorry so had ran and hid under her bed, my husband gave her the benefit of the doubt as he doesn’t like the recycling truck but mentioned to her it had came at 11am and it was now 7pm she then said how she loves having his company and he was curled up on the chair beside her so didn’t want to wake him.
Saturday morning Dobby went out and disappeared again so got to about 6pm and I went to see if again he was in her house I knocked on the door and waited, nothing, knocked again, nothing, after knocking a third time and being at the door possibly for a good 5 minutes the door opened and she said she’d been in the shower (looking surprisingly dry I might add for someone’s shower I’d disturbed) however I apologised for disturbing her and asked her could she stop allowing Dobby to come in her home now as he was getting in but not getting out and if he did sneak in as she put it to as soon as she realised to send him out, she said again she liked having him and would be sad to see him go but would do as I’d asked.
Sunday morning Dobby went out and again disappeared, my husband knocked on her door to see if he was there, no answer, he went again at 5pm no answer 8pm came and by this point I’d lost patience so I went round and knocked until she answered, she opened the door a crack and Dobby came out and I reminded her that she said she wouldn’t let him in again and that she said she was going to send him straight out if he did magic himself through closed windows and doors, she said he had been under her bed all day but couldn’t get to him, she then opened her front door fully and opened her bedroom door, Dobby ran back in her house so I asked her why she’d done that? She replied she was feeling unsteady on her feet and had leaned on the door handle but that she would send Dobby home later on, I refused and said I would wait at the door until she got him, which she did very reluctantly, and once he was out I asked if she would close her front door now and wished her a good night and closed her gate, but stood to the side where she wouldn’t see me, seconds later she opened her front door and was shaking some treats and calling on Dobby, I asked why she was doing that but she closed the front door so when I got home with him we decided it would be best for him to be a house cat as my husband and I were sure she was trying to take Dobby.
It’s been nearly a week and Dobby has turned into a nightmare, he has put a hole in our hallway carpet by the front door when we slept, he’s scratching and biting us, she phoned again on Wednesday in tears asking us to give her Dobby back and that her life wasn’t worth living without Dobby, my husband said about adopting a rescue and she said she didn’t have the time to jump through the hoops the rescue centres ask, my husband obviously refused to give her Dobby but because she asked to give her Dobby back, he got in touch with our vets and the police to just incase she said Dobby was hers. The vets said they would give proof that we owned him however there wasn’t much they could suggest. The police basically told him that there’s nothing they could do as she was giving us him back when we went for him and he was choosing to go in her house.
Last night after being bitten again my husband was all for just unlocking the cat flap and letting him go saying he obviously doesn’t want to be with us anymore so what’s the point in all the hassle?
I’ve grown attached to Dobby and would be devastated if he didn’t live with us, however I keep thinking the police and my husband have a point he can’t be happy with us.
Are we being cruel keeping him in, should we just let him be with her if that’s what going to make them both happy?
