It’s a rainy night, it’s been raining for a few days now, I was taking my dog for a walk and i heard nonstop meowing. I approached to make sure the cat wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t which was a relief. I give him some love and attention he is a very sweet cat without a leash, I walk away and he stays following me. Little dude follows me all the way home, I took him in because he’s a tuxedo cat and it’s late and raining, i don’t want him to get sick or worse get ran over. I post in my neighborhood community a little “is he anyone’s?” shout out with a couple pictures attached. I already have two other cats and i don’t know what this cat has on don’t have on him so i keep him in my bathroom with a litter box some food(he was really hungry he finished the bowl) and some water with a blanket for sleep. Morning comes i start getting a few replies from the post, one says “good luck finding him a rescue none of them are taking cats rn” another says “me and my husband have been wanting a cat for a while, if you don’t find his owner we will gadly take him” and the other one says “me and my husband go for walks and sometimes different cats will follow us around and eventually go home. we suspect he is from this address from the neighbor community that leaves their garage open so their cats can come and go. I would try reaching out to them.” (this is not exactly how those comments were worded i summarized them so it could all fit on the post).
So here’s how i’m torn in which decision to make.
I don’t want to return him to that house because where we live there’s A LOT of deadly diseases for cats from ticks and all, most places will not let you adopt if you plan on keeping the cat “indoor/outdoor”, it’s been storming for days and they still let their cats out and about, little guy was a hill and a block away from home meowing like crazy. I don’t believe that’s a good environment for any cat to be in, it is bad “parenting”.
I want to contact the nice couple who have been wanting a cat and lie saying I didn’t find their owner so that they can have him because I know he would be taken care of.
AITA for not trying to contact the possible original owners?
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It’s a rainy night, it’s been raining for a few days now, I was taking my dog for a walk and i heard nonstop meowing. I approached to make sure the cat wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t which was a relief. I give him some love and attention he is a very sweet cat without a leash, I walk away and he stays following me. Little dude follows me all the way home, I took him in because he’s a tuxedo cat and it’s late and raining, i don’t want him to get sick or worse get ran over. I post in my neighborhood community a little “is he anyone’s?” shout out with a couple pictures attached. I already have two other cats and i don’t know what this cat has on don’t have on him so i keep him in my bathroom with a litter box some food(he was really hungry he finished the bowl) and some water with a blanket for sleep. Morning comes i start getting a few replies from the post, one says “good luck finding him a rescue none of them are taking cats rn” another says “me and my husband have been wanting a cat for a while, if you don’t find his owner we will gadly take him” and the other one says “me and my husband go for walks and sometimes different cats will follow us around and eventually go home. we suspect he is from this address from the neighbor community that leaves their garage open so their cats can come and go. I would try reaching out to them.” (this is not exactly how those comments were worded i summarized them so it could all fit on the post).
So here’s how i’m torn in which decision to make.
I don’t want to return him to that house because where we live there’s A LOT of deadly diseases for cats from ticks and all, most places will not let you adopt if you plan on keeping the cat “indoor/outdoor”, it’s been storming for days and they still let their cats out and about, little guy was a hill and a block away from home meowing like crazy. I don’t believe that’s a good environment for any cat to be in, it is bad “parenting”.
I want to contact the nice couple who have been wanting a cat and lie saying I didn’t find their owner so that they can have him because I know he would be taken care of.
AITA for not trying to contact the possible original owners?
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> (1) Not trying to contact the cats original owners (2) that action might make me an asshole because that’s someone’s cat and they should know what happens to them and taking them without their permission is basically stealing
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
YTA
As a cat owner, I can’t imagine the risks outdoor for my cat (cars, catnapping, eating rodents with rodenticide etc) and wildlife. I personally strongly dislike indoor/outdoor cats. BUT if it’s not my cat, I don’t get a say. Your option IS the shelter if you don’t want to personally return the cat to that home. I would never want to be involved in a catnapping unless there was abuse or neglect (indoor/outdoor is controversial and I get that some consider it abuse/neglect).
NTA
You posted that you found a cat, including pictures.
No owners came forward or even made any effort to find the cat. (If they even noticed it was missing.) No missing signs? No social media pleas? No knocking door to door?
Therefore, no owner was found.
Rehome with your best judgement.
YTA, legally you can’t just take a cat without a reasonable search first, as that is stealing “property”. Take the cat to the vet and have him scanned for a microchip. If there’s no microchip then there’s nothing tying him to anyone, if there is one then you specifically know where he came from and you can contact the owners. If he’s not microchipped and you make other efforts to look for his owners (which would include contacting that house to see) and you still don’t find owners, then you can rehome him.
Report to the local animal control, with pictures, so they can try to find the owner.
If, after whatever the animal control people say is a reasonable time, you don’t find any owner, it’s your cat.
YTA – not your cat, and not your call. Your opinion on this is valid, but so are the opinion’s of people who believe cats should be allowed outside. There are ways to protect cats from ticks and fleas, just because the cat ate a bowl of food does not mean the cat is starved, and most importantly again, it is not your cat. You have it locked in a bathroom, so sure it is happier that way, or would be happier in a kill shelter. Contact the potential owner. You are not the keeper of how they feel about their cat.
+++ I did reach out to the local shelter’s facebook with pictures, they left me on seen both times i messaged them
NTA. cats should never be outdoors, both for their health + safety and the environment, as they are the leading killer of native birds in horrific numbers. imo you lose the rights to any pet you abuse, and outdoors cats are absolutely animal abuse/neglect.
NTA cats should never be outdoors, they hunt local wildlife and get killed.
NTA, this is pretty much how I got my cat Levi, he followed our ex-roommates kiddo home from school lol. We did make some posts online and we got our apartment complex to send a ‘lost pet’ email out, but no one ever responded. We ended up keeping him, as we did have room. It sounds like if the neighbors aren’t concerned about their animals wandering outside in the rain, they probably won’t miss him that much (if he even is theirs in the first place). Could also be that those neighbors are feeding stray cats too, I had an old neighbor who would put out food and water both for her indoor/outdoor cats and the strays in the neighborhood.
I would recommend, before giving him to that nice couple, take him to the vet just to have him checked for a microchip, just on the off chance he does have one and can be returned to his original home.
YTA- you are legit trying to justify stealing someone’s pet. For which you could be criminally prosecuted by the way. Contact those people immediately.
YTA
Our cats are indoor only. Like you, I feel strongly that cats should not live outdoors. That said, we all have our opinions and I am sure there are people who disagree with how I care for my pets. Should they have the right to take my pets from me?
NTA
Why is everyone assuming the home in question is the home of the cat? They said they suspect it belongs to a neighbor because they have other cats. That doesn’t mean it’s their cat, this is just a guess based on what another neighbor posted online. This cat is just as likely to be a stray.
NTA take the cat for a “chip read” if nothing comes up, rehome the cat, “outdoor cats” deserve better
Ask the cat what its preference is.
NTA. You said this is a kitten, so it is very likely a stray that the mother has weaned and chased away. You have already advertised and no owner has come forward. Someone said something about people leaving their garage door open; well, cats are smart and do not like being in the rain. If that was where this cat lived, I’m sure he would have gone home. The only other thing you can do is take the cat to the vet for a chip check or tell the people who want the cat to do that. I wouldn’t worry too much about a “cat theft” charge. Certainly no prosecutor is going to waste taxpayers’ money on such a case, and people who care so little about their cats that they leave them outside to be infected, injured, or killed are not going to spend money on a civil case against you for “cat theft.”
My cat is 18years old and will not go inside in the summer. Not even if it raining. He only stays in the front yard of ours and the neighbors house and doesn’t go in the street. He wouldn’t meow or follow someone home though. I just hate when people say it’s animal abuse to let cats outside. He will literally go crazy checking every corner of the house. I swear he’d break the window to get out
You went as far as posting an ad..It’s up to the owners to make the effort to find their cat. I have had many cats join my family over the years, if they stay, they stay. Not up to me to find out where they belong. I have always had indoor/outdoor cats, so if they wanted to go home they could have. Obviously they liked it here better.
YWBTA if you did not exhaust all avenues to find the owner, including asking the persons who live at the house that keeps their garage door open and take the found cat to the vet to be scanned for a micro-chip (vets will scan for a micro-chip for free).
I have cats. They’re indoor-only. They do not wear collars (they are micro-chipped). I would be devastated if one of my cats got out (accidents/sneaking outs happen) and one of my neighbors took it upon themselves to just take my cat, going by the assumption it must be a stray just because it doesn’t have a collar and ate a whole bowl of food (I’m sure at least one of my cats would eat a horse trough full of food, if allowed/offered).
Have you had it scanned for a chip? That’s the first step to find if it has owners.
NTA
This poor cat was hungry and wet.
Please be careful of people who want a free cat, though. Where I live, there are people who want them not as pets as they claim, but for other purposes that I won’t mention.
Take the cat to see if they have a chip. It could be a stray, an outdoor cat, or an indoor cat that got out.
In the case it’s an indoor cat that got out, YWBTA for keeping them, otherwise NTA.
Personally, the only type of outdoor cat I can understand is a barn cat, as it’s their job to keep the wildlife away. They live outside because they have an important job to do, and its better for the environment than rat poison and pesticides to have a barn cat. But knowing all the risks of just letting your pet roam the street, I don’t know why anybody advocates for this. Like, get a catio or leash train them if you want to let them outside that badly.
An outdoor cat could get taken by a large bird, hit by a car, chew on some toxic plants, get a disease, spread a disease, decimate the songbird population, get frostbite or heatstroke from the weather, torn apart by a dog with a strong prey drive, etc… If you actually care so much about your cat, why would you ever take the risk? I’ve owned four cats in my life and fostered two more, and I’d never let them outside.
NTA for taking the cat into your house, but you should take the cat to the vet to see if it has a chip or if they know the cat. And alert local shelters that you found him in case his owners are looking for him and go looking there. A Facebook post and taking the comments as the only options is not the only thing you should be doing. Most younger people aren’t even on Facebook, and even if you are you may not see every single post or be in the neighborhood groups. And just bc a cat is outside doesn’t mean it’s allowed to be, I have an escape artist myself and I’m incredibly anti outside cats. He just doesn’t agree with me.
NTA I personally hold the (possibly controversional) opinion that pet owners are not entitled to their pets if they cannot properly take care of them. I dont know the details about this situation, but just make sure that kitty has a good home! (Also, damn give us some rain we’re going through a drought right now!)