Where's the line?

In all fairness to your neighbor, does she think she's helping to keep Izzy safe and prevent her from wandering away? I mean, if she knew that Izzy was getting out without your knowledge, then she could be keeping Izzy until you came home from work or until you could come get her. I do find it a little creepy that they decided to give Izzy another name, but then again maybe they didn't know Izzy's name at the time. I think you should give the neighbor your phone number and tell her to call if she saw Izzy outside without you and tell her how important Izzy is to you and how devastated you'd be if you lost Izzy. Hopefully, this way, you won't have be blunt and say "I am NOT giving you my cat!"

Personally I would not be ok in that situation but I have inside only cats so I don't like the idea of them leaving my property at all. I know some outdoor cats like to visit other locations and see people so Izzy might enjoy the traveling. How long does she keep Izzy there now? If it's just for a visit I might not be too concerned at this time. Hopefully the lady won't start keeping her there longer and longer- that would be a huge cause of concern. The name change is strange though. If you ever see her and her son you can always ask her son what he thought of YOUR CAT Izzy...

There are always ads for free kittens, especially this time of year. What if you and your neighbor went and got a "free" one for their family. I think spay/neuter is still free this month, so all they would have to pay for is shots and food. Then they could have their own damn cat.

I would really be concerned by this. We don't let our out without a leash, but I know a neighbor lady "adopted" another neighbors cat permanently! I'd do everything I could to keep Izzy inside unless on a leash.

There was a stray cat that hung out in our neighborhood. The folks 2 doors down from us decided to feed it and take it to the vet. Well...he was gone for a few days but when he showed up again, he was neutered. They were going to have him neutered when he disappeared. He is a very personal cat and everybody loves him. The whole neighborhood knows who his owner is. We all enjoy his company. I feel as long as these people know that Izzy belongs to you and they can't have her, there is no harm being done. The little boy may grow up to be a great vet because of Izzy.

Well that would make me very uncomfortable and I think your neightbor is probaly indirectly trying to tell you that she wants your cat! You probably already knew that though. Maybe you should just try keeping Izzy in for awhile and then if your neighbor asks, tell her you didn't want her bothering anyone and just felt better leaving her inside. Hopefully she will take the hint, geez!

I'm trying to put this delicately...but I believe that the appeal of Izzy is that she's already fully vet'd. This woman isn't the brightest bulb in the bunch. She didn't even have the common sense enough to come down and get her son off our fence while I was mowing grass yesterday. I almost think that her line of thought is well, they have several cats they won't notice if we take one. Sorry I could go on and on, I'll stop now.

When I was a kid my cat just stopped coming home. I thought it might have been hit by a car but my mom later told me that it would come back smelling of smoke so she assumed it found a new home. That really didn't make me feel any better about my cat being gone. I'd just ask her to have her son come outside to play with the cat, that way you're not denying the child just making sure its under you supervision.

I have a similar situation here. I have a cat that has been at my house everyday since it has been warm. Everyone in the family adores him and gives him loving and food (hes skinny in my opinion.) He has a tag on so we called the owner who stated that he is ok, they live just a block away and he loves to roam.

But.....I will not let him in my house as bad as he wants in. I respect that he is not my cat and he is obviously loved enough to be tagged so I would take him knowing that his family would miss him.

I am with you, they should not be letting your cat come into their house. I know there are people who have issues with a cat running free for fear of them getting run over but I also understand that there are cats who are not content to sit in the house. I have one inside only cat and one inside who every other day wants to get out for an hour or so and I let her. She can be tracked back to me should something happen and if I do not let her out she will cry by the door for hours.

Let them know it is not cool to take your cat inside, if they want to love on her. keep it outside. Just my opinion!

Sounds kinda creepy to me!

I think the line has been crossed. Sometimes our neighbor takes Jude into her house for fun and to play with her dog, but it's always when we are home and are cleaning the house or doing yard work...or sometimes she'll just bring her over the fence to play with Jazzy. But, she doesn't "rename" her or tell us how much she'd love to have her...LOL!

We learned a lesson on this. There was a local stray dog running around that we decided to befriend. Had no clue who his owners were, but he was cute and friendly, so we gave him treats and was nice...blah. Well, next thing I know, Eddie has fleas...he never has fleas, at the time were were using frontline, so he was getting his monthly treatment etc. Well, we figured out that the other dog was bringing them over w/ him...he was infested. However, at the same time we also noticed that the people down the street from us usually chained him up, fed him, etc. So we knew he was theirs. We went to talk to them about the dog running loose, and that the fleas can put him in danger because they can hurt him. Anyway, we got a very rude response, and were told "you just rent, what's it matter." I have no idea what that had to do w/ anything, but unfortunately we ended up having to scare the dog away so that Eddie could be safe. Anyway, having been in a similar situation where we were the other people, I can say that they probably think Izzy is cute, and possibly thinking that because Izzy is out all the time, then maybe you don't want her. I know this isn't the case, so don't be angry, but that may be how it looks to someone else. I would say to try EXTREMELY hard to keep her in your yard, or when you go to pick her up, make sure Izzy knows she shouldn't go running off, and that you make it clear to the neighbor that she's a member of your family.

Our neighbor's cat used to LOVE us and we loved him. He was a carbon copy of our Oreo and his name also happened to be Oreo. We called him "outside" Oreo so we knew who we were talking about. This cat came over and visited our dogs and our daughter every day. He was NOT allowed in the house because he did have fleas. He wasn't even allowed in his own house because a family member had allergies. Anyway, one day my neighbor told me that he had been hit by a car. I had to tell my daughter, who was 7 at the time, and she was devastated to say the least. This sweet cat was only 2 years old. His litter mate, who also lived at the same house, never made it to two. He died the same way. I know that you love Izzy and the very best thing you can do for him is keep him indoors only. Your neighbor never should have taken him into her house, I think that's rude and crossing the line but maybe she is worried about him being outdoors. I know I was with outside Oreo. My gut said to bring him in where he would be safe, but he wasn't my cat. You should let your neighbor know that you don't want her taking Izzy into her house, but you need to keep him indoors to keep him from wandering. Cats that roam rarely live past 2. Those that do are lucky.

Sounds creepy to me. Especially the name change.

I had a barn cat and due to having the first 2 dying quickly I decided to wait before having him neutered. He had a routine and would sometimes be gone for 2 or 3 days at a time. He would come home nicely brushed. I don't know where he went, but he always came home. One day I went to visit the neighbor lady and he came waltzing out of the back of the house. I was surprised and she told me that he visited sometimes. She did not want a pet full time, but liked to have him visit. She was older. She also fed my dog treats and he kept an eye on his treat source. I mean her property.

I also had the director of the shelter steal his brother how was more feral. They had lice and I was not having any luck with getting rid of it. She stole him and I looked for him for daily for 6 weeks. He appeared for adoption at the shelter 11 months later. I had been going once a week to look for him that whole time. I had slowed down on my visits when he appeared for adoption. I got a lot of weird stories about where he came from, but when I reintroduced him to his brother is was obvious that it was him. He did reappear without lice and neutered which was fine with me. Declawing him was BS though.
She was mad, denied everything, but refused to let me have his tags that they issued him. Tried to stop me from adopting him back and everything. I cared for him for 5 years, but he was still shy and I was afraid that taking him to the vet would make him vanish.
So I have had both and pretty much if they don't let him out of the house after a couple of hours, they are trying to steal him. If he wants out of your house, he will want out of theirs too.

Oh boy Lynn, you are having a rough time lately. First with your mom and Titus and now Izzy. I would watch Izzy around your screened door and have a leash on him when you do let him outside. I would also worry about your neighbors 2yr old. Being that young he incapable of knowing if he hurts Izzy and if something should happen to Izzy that required vet care I don't think your neighbor would pay for it. Or god forbid if your neighbor little boy did something worse to Izzy. Years ago a friend had a kitten and some neighbor children were playing with it and the youngest grabbed the kitten by the neck. When the kitten struggled it scrached the little girl and she flug the kitten and broke its neck. Also, there could be legal issues if Izzy ever did badly scrach the little boy your neighbor could sue you.