Wow. Seems like so long since I posted this thread!

So what happened? Well….. I tried to encourage the cat not stay at my flat. Basically I just didn’t let him in which was heartbreaking but I knew I needed break the habit. A couple of times I did let him in because the weather was really bad and he was meowing at the door but I didn’t feed him.

Then one night when I’d let him in and it was getting late I knocked on his owners door. The owner was out but her boyfriend answered the door. I explained the situation and said that I loved cats and I loved having him around but I was getting worried because he was spending so much time in my flat and I didn’t want him to get too attached. I said that perhaps they should get a catflap. He said the flat was rented and they didn’t want to upset the landlord – reading between the lines I think they probably had a ban on pets as part of their tenancy agreement or hadn’t asked the landlord for permission and they didn’t want to get rumbled. He didn’t seem that bothered, he said that he was a very social cat and spent a lot of time in other peoples houses around the neighbourhood. This reassured me somewhat but I asked if he wanted to come over and pick him up. So he came over to my flat and on the way he introduced himself to me and told me the cats name was Stanley. Anyway as soon as Stanley saw his owner in my flat you could see the look of astonishment and guilt on little Stanley’s face. It was so funny! So off they went together and I was left feeling a lot less guilty and a lot more reassured.

I continued to let him in occasionally but I never fed him and soon after that I moved out the flat. On a couple of occasions I saw neighbours call him by name so obviously he was a very social cat and spent a lot of time in other peoples houses.