Just had the scare of my life - please read, as I'm completely at a loss

The cat that Dempsey came close to yesterday has just found its way into our house. I've taken it back out (thank God it was friendly!), but it came within two feet of Dempsey. If I hadn't been sitting next to Dempsey and thrown myself on top of him before he saw the cat, I dread to think what would have happened.

The cat had no collar whatsoever. Our neighbour said that yesterday, after he took the cat away from our gate, it slept all night on his van. I have a feeling the cat is lost, but I don't know who to contact about it. I'm terrified that the cat is going to come back in!

Please, please, please, does anybody have any idea who I can call? I'm going to phone the RSPCA now, just in case, but I don't think they'll do anything.

I asked around with people and apparently the cat's been wandering around for ages, day and night, following people. Pretty sure it's a stray. I've contacted Animals In Need, who said they'll see if they have any space and will call me back.

Just checked the lost cat database in this area. There's a missing cat matching the description, so I'll go out later to look for it. The deciding factor will be the nose - the cat on the database has a distinctive smudge on the nose, so I'm praying that it's the same one!

Well, I was on my way to the vets, carrying her, and she decided to kick up a stink. Not used to being handled, I think. We're going to have another look in the morning, when we'll have transportation for her to get her to the vets.

I was going to say vets as a first port of call just incase it is microchipped, have you had a look on local missing page facebook pages you know for Northampton etc?

When i found that stray dog we reported it to the police calling the non emergency phone line but don't know whether they would do anything being a cat

I did have a look and found a cat that I thought matched the cat I was talking about, but on closer inspection it wasn't the same one.

Pretty sure they won't do anything about cats, sadly. I've phoned the vets though and they said it's fine to bring her down whenever.

I have on occasion had a "lost" cat attach itself to me and more to the point (cats being cats) my immediate environs especially when I gave them food and shelter.

What I did was ask at the local shop whether anyone had reported a cat missing and looked at their shop window postcard notices. In once case I put a notice there myself - "Cat found".

These cats were all returned to their rightful owners, one way or another. Good job I didn't expect any thanks, because I didn't get any!

Well that's not very nice. If somebody goes to the trouble of finding somebody's cat, the least they can do is say thank you!

I've got over it now, and am just glad that I could get the cats back to their rightful home. I'm guessing that cat owners just accept that their pets will wander.

One of the problems with cats is their status in law. They are considered feral (yes, even the tame house pets) and so if they go missing the police won't do a thing and the R$PCA will only do something if the cat is injured & nobody else will pick it up & take it to a vet.

I think you're right. There's a sort of 'they'll look after themselves' attitude about them. Applies to some extent, but not as much as a lot of owners believe.

Hmm. I still think a pet should be a pet. But I'm a softy.