Hello everyone,
Since spring 2025, my neighbour has been letting in and feeding two of my cats.
In November 2025, I had to go and get one of them back from her house several times after calling for him for hours; he was tucked up comfortably on her sofa (and sometimes even her bed).
Even though she told me she wasn't taking him in anymore, he still wasn't coming home, so I set up a camera to track his movements (I live in the countryside, so there are lots of fields). I pointed the camera at the ground to avoid filming anything I shouldn't. The first and only video showed my cat scratching at her patio door, her letting him in, closing the door behind him, and giving him some wet food.
The next day she asked me to take the camera down, which I did. We came to an agreement that she wouldn't let him in or feed him anymore. She didn't keep her word. The following day, I put a GPS tracker on him.
In February, while my cat was inside her house, I went to her front door and called for him from there, as she wouldn't answer the bell. She took a photo of me and pulled her curtains shut but kept my cat inside. I only got him back when she left her house to go to the police station to file a complaint against me—at first she wanted to press charges, but only an official police log was made. Because of this, the police visited me and advised me to have no further contact with her, otherwise I would risk a harassment charge. So, I stopped. I even installed a privacy screen in front of my house so I wouldn't have to see hers anymore. In late February, as part of a project for local birds over winter, I fitted my cat with a clearly visible microphone to record birdsong in the area. No one asked me to remove it until her daughter did in mid-April, which I did immediately, ending my project. In the meantime, in March, I sent her a formal legal notice demanding she stop feeding my cat and make him leave her home. She carried on anyway. In early April, since double feeding isn't good for my cat's digestion, I also put a tag on him with my address and a note: 'Do not keep, do not feed—SICK'.
Despite this, she has continued. At the end of April, she asked me to make a new 'neighbour's agreement'. That's when I found out she'd filed a formal complaint. I gave her one more chance, telling her she'd need to see about withdrawing her complaint.
Firstly, she has continued to take my cat in, and now she's started taking in a second one, continuing to feed them both...
Secondly, she has done nothing about the complaint, and I've been called in for an interview by the police.
During our discussion at the end of April, she admitted that she didn't give them back just to annoy me, and she's doing it again. Even when she's there and can hear me calling them, and they don't come back because they are with her, she does nothing and lets me leave without my cats.
She tells me I just have to accept that my cats have two homes.
I'm at my wits' end. I have heaps of proof: GPS records showing they are at hers for over 30 minutes at a time, the GPS subscription bills, and daily logs showing that when she is out, they just pass through, but when she is home or about to return, they stay for over an hour. I have videos of them coming back when I call and she's out, versus them not coming at all when she's there.
I'm shocked by her complaint because I'm just trying to get my cats back. If my calling for them bothers her, she shouldn't have encouraged them to stay and eat in the first place.
I filed a report for theft and harassment at the end of May, but I'm worried because she will be around all through the summer, and since the legal system is a bit slow, she'll be able to continue her behaviour as she pleases.
We have a meeting with a legal mediator in mid-June, but they only want to request that she stops the feeding. I doubt that will be 100% effective if she continues to offer them all that comfort.
I don't know what to do anymore. Has anyone else been through this? If so, how did you get through it?
Just to clarify, my cats are microchipped and neutered.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
