question about my outdoor cat

Question
I have a cat that lives outdoors (my daughter is deathly allergic).  We have lived in our new house two years now and we are babysitting my brother in laws dog so I think my neighbor has adopted my cat.  I got my cat when he was a kitten and had him neutered and shots.  But now my cat will not come near us.  He runs from us.  This started when the dog we are babysitting arrived.  I asked my neighbor to stop feeding him.  But I think she is feeding him two times a day now.  I put food out and he has stopped eating it.  I have tried to be nice but I am getting fed up.  I consider this cat like one of my family.  He might be outside but he is still mine.  What do you think? Oscar is about 10 years old. I got him right after my oldest was born.  I found out my neighbor has an indoor cat that used to be her old neighbors cat.  I was thinking of getting my neighbor a kitten and telling her to stop feeding my cat. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Answer
Hi Thanks for the question. I will give you my opinion but it may not be what you are waiting to hear. What  has happened with your cat is not uncommon. Cats are different creatures and have minds of their own. It is not unheard of for a cat to "pack it's bags" and leave when a new kitten arrives or a dog such as in your case. It is an odd thing but I have personally seen it happen a few times. The cat will make a decision that it doesn't want to live there anymore and will actually RUN from it's previous owner !! IF your neighbour had NOT been feeding him.. he would have still left and just gone further afield to find someone that would feed him. Although they are affectionate to us and like us, cats really do not bond to us the same way a dog would and there is not TOO much you can do to change that! Even though you had him 10 yrs and you consider him yours.. the cat does not see it that way. I am really sorry.. I wish I could give  you better news but it is a decision that has been made by your cat.You mentioned he won't even eat the food you put out anymore and he runs from you.. Your neighbour interfering would not have brought out those behaviours in your cat. He has done that himself.
There are really only 2 options you have:
1. Catch your cat (somehow!) and keep him indoors for a couple of weeks and hope that he re-bonds to you and also realizes that the dog is not going to hurt him or even bother him.
2. Leave things as they are and be glad that it is a neighbor that has him and that he has not run too far away that you would worry about him and not know where he is. This way you will still see him occasionally and know that he is ok.
Teresa