I'm Not Responsible for This Right?

[happily single]

My across the street neighbor asked my dd13 (and me) to keep an eye on their cat while they are away for 2 weeks vacation. The cat mainly stays outside, but comes in at night and during the hot weather.

Well Thursday the cat never came home and we haven't seen her since. I keep going over and opening the front door (it's pretty loud), thinking, hoping she will hear it and come running. NOthing! So today I searched the house (quickly and not opening any drawers, I swear) on the off chance the cat was actually in the house. No luck.

So, techinically we didn't loose the cat, right?

PS The neighbor gave my daughter the house key on their way out of town and told her "Don't worry about the powder on the floor. We have fleas". Freaking wonderful. Oh yeah, and let your cat go in and out and only treat 1/2 of the house for fleas.

 

[minkydog]

Well, that's the chance they took when they allowed their cat to roam freely outdoors. Not your fault, unless you were told to keep the cat inside. I hope he comes home soon.

 

[kwelch10377]

Not at all....I could see if it was an indoor cat and you or your DD let it out.

 

[Magic Mom]

I don't think you're responsible, but I don't think its either.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Have you called animal control or the animal shelters to see if they have the cat? You could also put up a lost cat poster.

No, you are not responsible. If she has an outside cat, you cannot control where it is at.

Fleas? Yuck!

 

[kirstenb1]

does she leave food/water bowls out for the cat?

 

[MichelleVW]

I don't think you're responsible, but I don't think its either.

Yeah, it's their fault for letting the cat outside, and I totally agree it's not funny at all.

 

[mumom95]

Don't panic yet.

My neighbors asked if I could take care of their cats while they were on vacation a couple of years ago. The cats are indoor/outdoor cats. My neighbors said feel free to let them in and out as I wish. I wasn't planning on letting them out, but the second day I was there one of them ran out the door the minute I opened it.

I didn't see the cat the rest of the week. I was so worried it was making me sick. I went looking through the neighborhood, calling the cat, stayed up one night outside hoping I would see the cat come around the house. Nothing.

My neighbors got home and within ten minutes of them pulling in the driveway the cat walks right out of the woods behind their house like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I couldn't believe it. The neighbors laughed and said she has disappeared for days before and it wasn't a big deal.

So who knows, maybe the cat is just waiting for one of her "people" to get home.

 

[happily single]

I didn't mean to suggest its funny that the cat is missing. The was next to the question "I'M NOT TECHNICALLY RESPONSIBLE". I'm stopping into Animal Control tomorrow, but we have such a problem with "outdoor" cats the Animal Control has told me in the past they will only take a cat if it's sick/injured. Hopefully she will re-apppear soon.

 

[rparmfamily]

Is the food/water outside? I hope it comes home. Let the owners know too if you can.

 

[wilma-bride]

This happened to us - we went on vacation and left our neighbour 'cat-sitting'. While we were away the cat went missing and, when we got home, he had already been gone several days. Our neighbour absolutely was not to blame and I made sure she knew that. It turned out that our cat was at the local animal shelter - a few phone calls and a large donation later and he was back home where he belonged.

OP, I personally don't think it's your responsibility to try and find the cat. I do think, however, that you should try to contact the owners and let them know.

 

[GreatDaneMom]

OP it's not your fault! If people allow their cats outside they're taking the risk, not you. The cat will show up when you least expect it.

Just to lighten your thoughts a little....we left our two indoor cats at home with a house sitter while we were on vacation. Halfway through the trip the sitter emailed me and asked how many cats I had. We panicked and thought one was missing. Oh no! As it turns out a neighbor's cat had somehow snuck into the house and made himself part of the family. Poor cat sitter!

 

[MichelleVW]

OP it's not your fault! If people allow their cats outside they're taking the risk, not you. The cat will show up when you least expect it.

Just to lighten your thoughts a little....we left our two indoor cats at home with a house sitter while we were on vacation. Halfway through the trip the sitter emailed me and asked how many cats I had. We panicked and thought one was missing. Oh no! As it turns out a neighbor's cat had somehow snuck into the house and made himself part of the family. Poor cat sitter!

Ok now that's funny!!! We have to tell our cat sitters not to panic if they don't see one of our cats EVER because he is so shy that he hides from all strangers! I had a friend watch them once and said it took her an hour to find him just to make sure he was ok.

 

[Magic Mom]

OP, I personally don't think it's your responsibility to try and find the cat. I do think, however, that you should try to contact the owners and let them know.

If it were me that agreed to take care of the cat, I would think it was my responsibility to put some effort into finding the cat. Call the local shelters, ask around the neighborhood, put food out, put up some flyers. I don't think the OP is responsible for the cat running away, because it was an outdoor cat, but since she took the responsibility of caring for it, I would expect that she look for it. I do think the PP that said the cat will probably return when her owners come home is right.

 

[MIGrandma]

I don't think you're even remotely responsible for the cat. If they allow it to be outside and come and go as it pleases, not your fault it didn't come home. Poor kitty.

Now, if it were strictly an indoor cat and it got out while you went in to feed it, that would be different. But that wasn't the case. Your neighbor shouldn't have allowed their cat to be outdoors in the first place.

 

[Heidict]

Nope, not your fault at all. They allow their cat to go outside and therefore know that there is always a possibility that the kitty may not come home again. It's a risk you run with indoor/outdoor cats.

Do what you can for now to find him, but don't call the owners, especially if they have kids. Nothing would ruin a vacation more then someone calling with bad news about a family pet.

I admit it, I am not a good pet sitter. I am cursed. I love animals, but for some reason bad things happen when I watch other peoples pets. I have had 1 dog that was picked up by the dog warden on 3 separate occasions. One that was killed when it was hit by a car and another that almost died when it almost choked itself to death on it's chain. I have now given up pet sitting for friends, it's just not worth the stress.

 

[WDSearcher]

I would, at the very least, contact Animal Control in your area to see if anyone has found the cat. Depending on how crowded your local shelter is, the cat may only have a week before it goes on the euthanasia list, and I'd hate for the cat to be put to sleep simply because no one thought to ask if it was there. It's also possible that if, after a week, the cat is not claimed, it could be adopted by someone else. Either way, the cat would not make it back to its owners. Assuming the owners do actually care about the cat, you might want to at least check and see if the cat was picked up.

 

[sunlver]

Cats are a funny thing. When my neighbor goes out of town, I take her to do my house t dog sit. Her cats are indoor/outdoor cats...but she "tries" to get them inside when she is out of town for us. We go by and make sure the cats have plenty of food and water. Sometimes , one will run out, and she will say one of them is outside, please let it in . Ok, great..but the cat hates me and my family. If they see anybody BUT its own familyit runs away. It will sit on the front porch right outside the door, and we go to let them in, they run..
So of course,I was freakinga bit, since its so hot, and one cat was out. My son went the next day and he said the cat started to run away..Then it came back and just sat there. My son opened the door, and had to Nudge the cat on his back end to get in the house...he said the cat WAS NOT Happy..
BUT..its been in the mid 90's and and I was just so happy the cat got in the house in the AC..

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If your neighbors gave you a way to reach them, I would call them. Maybe this is something the cat does, or she has a usual hang out or hiding spot or something.

 

[torinsmom]

Make sure you leave food and water outside the house for the kitty.

Also, I would go by the local Animal Control and see if they have it. At ours, you can also give them a description of the "missing" cat and if one comes in matching that description, they will call you.

I disagree with a PP about not calling the family. I would check to see if this has happened before and if there is something more you should do. I can't imagine it would ruin the adults' trip and they don't have to tell their kids. I would expect a cat sitter to let me know if something was out of the ordinary.

Marsha