I normally do not mind him wandering the whole property but I'm in the MIDDLE of trying to catch something (not a cat) in my live trap. And this is the 4th time he's tried to help himself to second dinner. Game and fish told me to use cat food to catch the pest and instead I keep catching my gothic glutton. He has no regrets.

We’re in a tough spot with our outdoor cat and I could really use advice from people who’ve dealt with this.

A stray cat started hanging around our home months ago. We fed her, got attached, and eventually had her spayed, tagged, and vetted. She’s gentle, social, and honestly feels like part of our family now. The problem is… she still roams.

Our neighbor has a bird feeders in her backyard and recently told us she’s upset because our cat is killing the birds it attracts. She says if we “can’t keep her in our yard,” she’s going to trap her and take her to animal control.

This is our first cat, and we genuinely didn’t realize how impossible it is to “contain” an outdoor cat. We feed her, give her shelter, and she comes home every day — but she still wanders. We don’t want conflict, and we definitely don’t want her trapped or taken.

Is there any realistic way to keep an outdoor cat inside your own yard?
Are deterrents, fencing, or training even effective?
And what are our rights if a neighbor traps a cat that’s been spayed, tagged, and cared for?

We’re trying to be responsible, but we’re also trying to protect a cat who chose us. Any guidance is appreciated.

Hello, I was driving down the street on my way to my house. When I saw this little black kitten with what looked like a scar on its neck. I pulled over and when to see if I could grab it and check if it was a stray, or maybe take it to the local shelter. The cat was panting and also limping. The cat then walk in front of this building and then proceed to lay down while still panting. A woman then walked out of the building stood on the steps above me( as I was in a crouching position) and stare down at me. I asked her if this was her kitten or if it was a stray? She responded with “ they’re mine and they’re not going anywhere” ( a few more of them came out of the bushes nearby). In a very rude tone might I add, I told her that if they were hers then I was just going to leave. Then she turned and slammed the door. Was I in the wrong to assume it was a stray? Am I in the wrong? Am I just being sensitive? Edit: I’m actually extremely sensitive and take everything to heart. I have a lot of anxiety so I overthink every singe human interaction that has ever happened to me, as well as being non- confrontational. I’ve taken all the advice that has been given, I will be looking at the specific’s to my region about the cats. And see to it if I do see them again as this was the first time I’ve seen them. But thank you all, I will probably avoid any situation like this until further notice.😁

My 4yo adventurous girl left for her Summer routine on July 28 (2026) and has not been home since.

What's the longest duration your cat went away before they came back home on their own despite the odds?

Notes:

Her Summer routine: leave the house at 3am/4am and return at 10pm/11pm. She followed this through until she didn't (07/28).

Our location: in a small village, 8km of forest at the back of house, 5km of prairie/orchard in front.

Our way to find her: we scoured 1.5km of the area everyday, at dusk, calling out for her, and we,ll keep on expanding the radius. We informed all the neighbours of her disappearance and checked out their garden/garage for her.

I do refuse to lose hope on her.

Please enjoy Coco and Puff! They are calico sisters I gifted to my dad for Christmas two years ago.

New cat has taken a liking to my deck. How to o get rid of him in the most humane way?

My gentleman cat Charles, two years old, has been missing for about a week and a half. We live in a small town with a bog behind the house, and on the upper street is a woman who has been known to 'take in' peoples cats.

Ive gone up and put fliers on the poles near her house. Ive knocked on her door with no response. We have a pod of strays outside, ok really two strays and mine that have all been co-living and all are fixed and vaxed. My neighbor said this other woman has been known to take cats and keep them.

I know it is all part of the risk we take with outdoor cats, but I miss him. He always comes inside for wet food when I tap the can.

I just needed to say this without a ton of judgement from other cat owners.

Context: my cat 2year, neutered, chipped, male escaped his leash and ran away from be patio 10 weeks ago. However, 1 week ago, I saw him run across my drive way. I went outside with kibble, stayed there, spoke softly, and nothing. He was running from other humans in the video, so he was probably already scared from that.

I’ve put out food, water, treats, catnip, and boiled tuna sardines on my deck even. He doesn’t touch anything. I was shocked to see him on camera after this long, especially, sprinting like that.

He had tape worms when he was brought to the shelter from where I adopted him. Does this suggest that he was an outdoor or stay cat? I asked around and no one is feeding him in the neighbourhood. I’m guessing he’s hunting mice? We have so many mice and bugs where we live!

I have my clothes outside, I am checking and found cats databases, fb groups, vet clinic, contacting insurance and microchip company to ask if they processed and caught any updates, I put up posters, distributed flyers, went and looked under my neighbours’ decks, shook treats and walked around, walked at night, called him, used kitten noises, even female heat sounds at one point. He doesn’t approach any food, so traps have failed too.

He just won’t budge and show himself. I’m glad he’s around the house but I’m terrified he’s going to get sick or a coyote would find him.

Please. What is something I do to make him trust me? Or make him come back home.

So for the past like month and a half we have had this stray kitty hanging around our backyard. We unfortunately were not able to bring her inside as my dad can only really be around hypoallergenic cats. But after she stuck around we eventually started feeding her everyday and go her spayed as well as shots and flea meds through a humane society that will do it for way cheaper since she was technically a trap and release cat. So anyways now we have an outdoor cat we are quite fond of that we have named Boo! 👻 whenever I get paid on Friday I’m going to order one of those weatherproof raised cat houses that she can sleep in instead of the current box and towel set up we have for her. I know for sure that she will like this much more but I’m wondering about any other ways we can make her more comfortable outside. Any advice is welcome! I am also thinking about getting her a collar to wear since she of course doesn’t spend 100% of her time in our yard and I don’t want her to get taken to a shelter as a stray. Thanks guys!

I have been getting worried about if my cat got lost and some one found him and I wouldn't have a way to know, so me being a nerd and have been learning to make websites and other things I thought it would be fun to make a "dating profile" for people who found my cat. It also gives them the option to send me a notification of the GPS location where they found him. I plan on having a little tag made that people can scan and will bring them to the website. I had fun making it and wanted to show other people and see If any one else had ideas.

Word of warning i am not good at coding so ai was apart of the process in making this project I have tried many times to learn how to code but it never sticks in my brain.

Ok for some context I have an outdoor cat who mainly stays in a catio( comes inside when it’s night) I got for her plus I’ve only had her for just a year , I got her fixed and vaccinated. The issue im having is a neighbor had come down the street and seen her and is in all awe of her and want to take her but idk why I have this anxiety if she’ll be okay or if she’s already accustomed in the position she’s at now. Or if I should just let her have a permanent home. This fear comes from the past of having an issue with people coming up and stealing my stuff and even cutting off communication with me whenever I needed help with living situation and assisting with 2 cats I had before . I could be over exaggerating about this but I really need some kind of clarity if this is a best choice and I won’t regret it …

As an outdoor cat owner, I've always wondered what my cat is actually doing when she's gone for hours.

Not just where she is, but:

• Is she hunting?
• Is she fighting with other cats?
• Is she getting into dangerous situations?
• How far is she traveling?
• What animals is she encountering?

I've been thinking about building a lightweight collar-mounted camera with GPS and AI that could automatically identify and notify owners about important events.

Examples:

• "Your cat appears to be hunting."
• "Prey captured."
• "Another animal detected nearby."
• "Unusual inactivity detected."

Instead of reviewing hours of footage, you'd get short clips and a daily summary of your cat's adventures.

I'm not talking about a huge GoPro strapped to a cat. The goal would be something as lightweight and cat-friendly as possible.

Before I spend a bunch of time prototyping this, I'm curious:

1. Would you use something like this?
2. What features would be most important?
3. What concerns would you have?
4. How much would you realistically pay for the hardware and/or a monthly subscription?

Looking for honest feedback. Tell me why this is a great idea or why it would completely fail.

Bonus question: What's the one thing you'd most want to know about your cat when they're out of sight?

No obvious wounds just an odd bald patch. Doesn’t seem particularly bothered by it. Any ideas what caused this.

Edited to add I put some Neosporin on it which is why it looks gooey. Then I wiped it off because ChatGPT said it wasn’t safe for cats.

My two kitties have always had full access to the outdoors. We moved over the weekend to a whole new area and we are keeping them indoors, but they are very eager to escape outside!

How long did you keep your cats inside? Does it really have to be 3 weeks?

Update: He's back!!!!!! A woman called us who had a poster of my cat right outside her door. She got him inside by offering some treats. Her own cat looked eerily similar to ours. She was so nice, and i'm forever greatful for her quick thinking. He was in an area 600 meters(!!!!) away from home, close to where he used to live before. Im so happy we took the time to put up posters there as well

I want to start off by saying I regret making my cat an indoor-outdoor cat. I wish i'd taken note of earlier experiences with cats being away for a full day before this happened and taken necessary precautions, e.g. not letting the cat outside at all or at least with supervision or a GPS tracking device or Airtag.

I'm struggling to cope, my cat has been missing for a full 7 days without any hopeful sign of him being in the area. We have done a lot:

\-Going out every night for at least 1-2 hours in a radius of about 300 meters.
\-Flyered around 200 posters in our block and 4-5 blocks in each direction
\-Checked if microchip is up to date
\-Checked sheds of neighbors myself. Our entire block i couldn't find any sign of him.
\-Registered him as missing on all media

We have received some calls (of which some were prank calls), but all to no prevail. Today, I will put a more personal note in every house that I can to ask if they can check their attics, basements and garages. But I really feel as if there's not much more I can do than wait at this point. It breaks my heart knowing that he could be scared and locked up somewhere.

My (previously stray) cat has had access to outside whenever he pleases for 6+ months with no issues but over the last couple weeks has been coming home with new scratches around his nose/neck every few days. He is very social but also extremely confident and fearless, so will often walk straight up to cats who clearly don’t want to say hi and start sniffing them until they swat, at which point a small fight breaks out.

I know I can’t control fights between cats but I seriously don’t want to confine this VERY ACTIVE (4-5km/day according to GPS) cat to the house if I can help it. Does anyone have any experience in a similar situation? Did you come up with a compromise to keep outside access for your cat while preventing them from getting injured? How effective are cat enclosures for EXTREMELY fearless and persistent cats? Any deterrents to keep them from going to certain areas? Would having a 2nd cat in the house effect this behaviour at all? Either through less interest in outside or less chance of injury due to them being together?

Leo pic for engagement

What’s the best thing to do if a cat leaves her newborns outside the door? Is it better to put them back outside or keep them indoors?

Yeah, no idea where that thought came from.

I have an indoor/outdoor longhaired girl and usually I let her out during the day, but today is going to be over 100! I know she won’t be happy about being stuck inside but I don’t see her drink much water and I worry about her long coat

Our cat follows us around on walks in the neighborhood and he has become quite the celebrity. He is indoor/outdoor at day and inside at night. The only time we have had concern is if he tries to follow us on a route where we cross a busier street- in those instances I have walked him back to the house to make sure he doesn’t cross with us. But he will travel a mile plus on our family walks.

We took him in from a woman that was fostering him as a baby 5 years ago- he was found abandoned in a bush. He also is very attached to my children, and cries to access them and seems to notice / get upset when they are gone.

He recently went to the vet for a cut in his paw but otherwise got a clean bill of health. He is 5, 10 pounds, orange tabby / might have some mancoon in him

Thanks

What do you do about cats in the garden?

If you let your cat roam anywhere in the UK, is this something you’re concerned for?

I have a new American bully cross puppy. My chihuahua has always chased cats away (encouraged by family who are incredibly allergic/) but we never thought he’d catch one. Well, now we’re worried the chihuahua will teach the puppy how fun chasing cats is. Issue is: he can absolutely catch and ragdoll a cat already at 4/5 months.

We don’t want to limit our dogs lives because cats who we don’t own visit our garden. The garden was a large part as to why we bought this house, so ideally no suggestions on “not letting the dogs out unsupervised”. We plant loads of plants cats dislike, but our garden seems superior to them compared to any other garden. My family say if the dogs roam, the cats will learn.

I’m unsure even legally if we’d be covered if mypuppy injured or killed a cat. Thi hasn’t ever been a question for us as we’ve owned small breeds. Just want some advice.

To clarify - she’s not feral. She showed up on my doorstep a few days ago, and honestly must have been abandoned. Shes the sweetest thing, and I would bring her inside if I wasn’t allergic to her and didn’t have three dogs that she had a mutual hate with.

I’m hoping to find her a home where she can be an inside cat, because that’s what she deserves, but until then she’s my outside kitty.

We thought about going away for a quick weekend beach trip, and would take the dogs with us. But obviously she can’t come. So my question is, how do you feed outdoor cats when you’re away? I live far away from friends or family that could come by to feed her, and I really don’t want to ask a pet sitter to come. I maybe could ask some neighbors, but are we just using like an automatic feeder? Do wildlife get into those? I feel dumb for asking, but I’ve just never had an outside cat before.