What would you do?

[Grace]

Did the owners come looking for him the night he spent with you?

If not, I say poof him. We did that with Grady, 7 years ago. He was 6 months old - not allowed in the house because one of the kids was supposedly allergic. They fed the cats by throwing dry cat food on the garage floor. They lived two doors up the street from us - had 3-4 cats, not one of them neutered or spayed.

We kept Grady. Not once did anyone come looking for him; not once.

[katladyd]

I wouldn't poof the cat just because he flinches. My boyfriend's female kitty, Mau Mau flinches at sudden movements and loud noises. She will either roll into a ball or croch down like she is awaiting a blow. She is NOT ABUSED! If anything, we spoil her rotten. She also gives constant head bumpies and loves and is a complete love bug who climbs in your lap at every opportunity. I would not want someone to poof her if she got outside just because she flinches. Some cats are very sensitive to movement and noise, but they are not being abused. Now, the being outside on several occasions does worry me a bit. Give the kitty back and tell them you are worried because he is outside a lot and you are sure they would be heartbroken if he disappeared. If you keep finding him outside, then maybe he should be poofed. But I would talk to the owner first.

[krazyaboutkatz]

The fact that this cutie flinches and rolls into a ball at hand movement is setting off alarms in my head about possible abuse. His reaction seems to be to protect himself. Your post gives me serious doubts about this kitty's safety and well being with the owners. On this one, I have to go with the poof folks. All of my instincts say all is not well for this kitty.

I agree. When I adopted Storm from the Humane Society he would also flinch when I would try to pet his head. He had been owned by a man that didn't want him any more and he was found roaming around outside by some one who then brought him to the HS. He was abandoned. It took him quite a while to learn that I was only going to pet him and nothing more.

I know that sometimes cats will door dash and get out but I would then also think that his owners would then immediately start looking for him as soon as they noticed he was gone. Since they still haven't even noticed or even seem to care, I don't think they want him any more. Please poof this wonderful cat.

[kitten645]

I am a firm believe in gut instinct. If you see this kitty flinch and you think abuse, I'd go with that. I always tell my Calvin "You'd think you were abused" by the way he hides at any unfamiliar noise or voice. But he NEVER flinches at any movement I make. I think that little voice in your head should be listened to. That kitty is much too young to be flinching and clearly if he's in the hall multiple times they don't even know where he is. Calvin was a darter when I lived in an apartment but hello...there's only one door in an apartment. How hard is it to notice a cat dashing by you especially when you know he's a dasher.
POOF THE KITTY!

[Crayons09]

No one has tried looking for him to my knowledge. We have had him since 8pm last night. He is the type of cat that would be very hard to miss if he got out. He is pretty much a little shadow. No matter where you go he is right behind you. These people obviously don't care about him since they haven't even tried looking for him. There is No way they wouldn't notice him not being there. Thanks for all the replies. I will keep everyone updated on him

[phesina]

I agree COMPLETELY with the yes-poof crowd. Good for you, Crayons09!

I look forward to reading updates on this lucky little guy. Have you named him yet?

[Crayons09]

So far the kitten is still here. I'm trying not to think of names because I can't keep him. Although I would love to keep him! No one has tried looking for him yet. This is what I don't like about it NO one has tried to find him. If that cat was mine I would searching for him immediately like freedom said. My old roommate and I had a cat named Louis and he was the devil of all cats. So mean that you had to walk with pillows in front of your legs to protect yourself from attacks. He chewed every wire we owned at everything we owned defrosted our freezer twice. We joked about booting him out but we never did. One day he did go missing. We immediately started searching for that evil cat till we found him (on the balcony of 2nd floor; we lived on 3rd floor. Too this day we do not know how he got on there.) My point is that's a cat that was completely evil and we were searching for him as soon as we realized he got out. We would have put lost fliars out as well.
But not one person has asked or done anything for this kitten.
Also My old roommate still has Louis and he is doing well. not sooo devilish now
If these people were putting up an effort to find him we would give him back. But not one ounce of effort has been put out on their part.

[katladyd]

Okay, if they're not looking for him yet, I'm joining the poof crowd. I would be frantically searching for either of my boys if they went missing!