We live in a house with a fenced-in garden in a leafy suburb of Lyon. Not a year goes by that we don't find a litter of abandoned young cats in the neighbourhood. :-(( Our first one was lucky: he got to stay because he arrived while my husband and I were on holiday and our daughter looked after the house and our own 2 cats. She had bonded with him by the time we returned and begged us to keep him, although we really didn't want a third cat.
The following litters we took to the SPA immediately. Since they were healthy and friendly young cats, we hope that they found a good home.....
A couple of weeks ago I noticed a small animal in our garden behind some bushes. It was very shy and I thought it was a little rabbit running away. Some nights later it entered our house through the cat flap and polished off all the cat food on the plate in the kitchen. We noticed that it was a kitten of about 8 weeks. Since then it has been hanging around in our garden and hiding in the shed behind boxes and garden equipment.
I honestly don't know what to do! It seems to be completely wild and I can't even get near it. I don't want to have a 4th cat. It's not that we can't afford it, but I don't want to start to become a "hoarder". We are already having a hard time with our neighbours who don't like it when our 3 cats use their flower beds as toilets. Yet my heart tells me to feed it, although I realize that once I start feeding it, I assume full responsibilty for it. How will I manage to tame it? I have tamed feral kittens before, but they were in a room indoors which is not the case with this one.
Does anybody know if there is a law in France that stipulates how many cats one may keep in a suburban house? I know that in Germany neighbours only need to accept 2 cats at the same time in their garden, in other words, if we had 4 cats, we would only be allowed to let 2 out at the same time, but I doubt that such a law exists here in France.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I can't just close my eyes. Thanks!