Serangoon resident says community cat peed on his doormat, feeder says free-roaming pet cat likely did it

Upset at finding cat pee on his doormat and sandals, a resident in Serangoon put up signs demanding that the feeders remove a cat house they had set up nearby.

"Please do not turn this into your pet corner," one of the signs read.

The cat house was meant to acclimatise a community cat, Abby, to a sheltered environment while preparing for her adoption.

But her feeder, Susan Lee, said Abby had not been the perpetrator at all.

Lee had in fact caught another pet cat, belonging to one of the resident's neighbours, lounging around on the desecrated doormat, she said.

Attempt to adopt

Abby usually hangs out at the car park at Serangoon North Ave 1, Lee said of the community cat.

In end October, her feeders placed a cat house at a staircase landing leading up to the block's second floor.

This was to shelter her temporarily while they searched for an adopter.

Once a prospective adopter was found, they attempted to bring Abby indoors, but she "struggled and ran back to the car park", Lee explained.

Hoping to get her acclimatised to the indoor environment, they set up a proper cat house with a kibble feeder at the staircase landing on Nov. 29.

The plan was to later move these items into the adopter's house, and that Abby would be "less terrified with familiar items when she was indoors".

Lee clarified that Abby's regular feeder would stay until she was done eating, and clear up unfinished food immediately.

It was also unlikely that she'd go to the residences on the second floor, as Abby would avoid going past the staircase landing.

Even if her feeders carried her up, she would quickly "run down again".

The box held a sign asking residents for their patience, and Lee even spoke to the affected resident directly to explain the situation to him.

"He did not appear belligerent, although a little gruff," she recalled.

Signs appearing

But in early December, the resident put up a sign expressing his unhappiness: "Please do not turn this into YOUR pet corner."

He claimed that Abby would not sleep in the shelter, but instead attract other stray cats.

The stray cats would also pee on his shoes and doormat, he added.

"Kindly remove these shelters and food by the end of this year 2024. If not, the matter will be escalated to town council," the sign read.

Lee and the feeder quickly removed the cat house.

But a second sign was put up soon after, alleging that Abby had once again peed on his sandals.

"It caused a lot of inconvenience and I TOTALLY LOST MY PATIENCE," he wrote.

"Either you keep this cat at home since BOTH OF YOU love this cat so much or I'll ask the Cat Welfare Society to remove this cat."

Afraid for Abby's safety, they cleared the area of everything.

"She had just gotten used to them and [would] spontaneously go up to the area on her own, so we were happy with the progress," Lee said.

"Poor Abby now hides under cars, and we are back to square one."

Sweet cat, familiar to residents

Despite the resident's allegations that Abby had peed on and scratched his doormat, Lee believes that she was framed — by a free-roaming cat belonging to a neighbour.

She's seen the other cat lounging around on the resident's doormat, which was the one that was peed on.

But she did not make accusations as they did not want to "sour the relationship".

Lee still hopes that they will be able to get Abby into the potential adopter's home, with the residents' cooperation.

In a Facebook post on Dec. 21, she wrote that she also hopes to make contact with the resident's sister, who lives nearby and is a cat lover, in an attempt to get through to him.

"Abby's a sweet cat," she added.

"Many residents living around this block are familiar with her, and give her head pats and scratches when they pass by her chilling while waiting to get fed."

Top image from Susan Lee