It's irresponsible to let a cat outside by itself, doubly so if it's on a special diet. Blaming people for feeding a cat in such situations is like blaming a pedestrian for being hit by a car. I also mention this because outdoor cats are more likely to be hit by a car.

[–] kindnesskills@literature.cafe 1 points 1 week ago

It's pretty well established knowledge not to feed random cats, and the more people who know not to, the better.

Do you feel blamed by people informing each other about this? If so, why? I didn't see anyone assigning blame here besides you.

[–] cutemarshmallow@europe.pub 3 points 2 weeks ago

That's true. I've been very tempted to feed it a few scraps of food (like breadcrumbs or leftover canned tuna), but I know some animals don't respond well to some food and I'm not used to cats yet. I had a dog so I know not to feed dogs any chocolate, grapes, or nuts, but all I know is that [most] cats can eat tuna so I didn't want to risk potentially making my neighbour's cat sick, or worse.

I have been researching animal sanctuaries to start the process of getting a cat though, so eventually I'll have some actual cat food. Maybe then I'll try to feed this one a few bites, but I think I'll ask the neighbour first because I don't know if this cat is allergic to a specific ingredient or anything.