Serangoon resident says community cat peed on his doormat, cat feeder says it's innocent

Editor's note: A photo of a household cat has been removed from this article and more information provided by the woman who is assisting the community cat has been included.

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.

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

Lee 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."

The post also clarified that the accusation that a household pet cat belonging to another resident was responsible for peeing on items along the corridor was not the case.

Lee said she brought up that possibility as a way to explain to the complainant that there be other free-roaming cats visiting his door and soiling his mat and footwear.

Top image from Susan Lee