'I stole someone's cat?': Injured Stray Cat Approaches Hooman for Help, She Rescues the Kindhearted Kitty, Only to Have Two Women Demand She Return Their "Feral" Feline

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Nov 26, 2024 12:00 PM EST

Happy Tuesday, feline fam. We have purrticular feelings about people who have outdoor cats, but that's a whole other listicle for a whole other time. This juicy Reddit thread all starts with a stray, injured cat approaching a gentle hooman for help. The hooman took him in and, while taking him to get cleaned up, dewormed, and rehabilitated, posted about him on a local Facebook group to check for ownership. Two women, let's call them "Karen 1" and "Karen 2" for the sake of this short text, demanded that this woman was stealing their cat and she needed to immediately release him.

Firstly, they called him "feral", meaning that they were not taking care of him, and secondly, they stated that they fed him, but did not provide him with any medical support. And yet, by getting the kindhearted kitty vaccinated and bringing him to a shelter where he could find his hopeful furrever family, she was "stealing their cat." What in Ceiling Cat has gone wrong with the world these days? The Karens just won't quit, and we've had enough of entitled people saying they care for cats when in reality, they don't have their best interests at heart. Scroll down to read this whole feline fiasco below!

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  • 01
    ALTA for "stealing" a stray cat?
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 02
    If it was their cat, I'd never dream of not returning him, but...he's not. They're changing the story now...but if that's the case, why did they email me saying he's feral?
    via ByeByeTokyo
  • 03
    I (25m) and my husband (28m) were in our backyard on Saturday when we saw a stray cat in the yard. We usually shoo them away because they stress out our (indoor-only) cat and eat the birds that come to our birdfeeders, so my husband yelled "Hey, shoo!" at the cat. Instead of running away, the cat came running up to him immediately, meowing a lot. We were like "oh, I wonder if this is the neighbor's cat or something," and then noticed he was really skinny, DEFINITELY not neutered, and had a small
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 04
    We thought maybe he was a lost or escaped pet at first, so we caught him and brought him inside to set him up quarantined from our cat with a litter box and food and water. Humane Society is closed on weekends, so we planned to call them Monday and in the meantime put his image up on our local lost pets Facebook page with our email address. Today, we got an email. Here is the exact text of the email (names changed for anonymity):
    via u/unnameablethings

    Honestly, she did the right thing. You never know the situation of a cat on the streets - they could have escaped and gotten lost, or maybe they just grew up on the streets. If only they could talk and tell us all about it…if only. 

  • 05
    "Hi will you please let Bongo out so he can come back towards home. He is a feral cat but he is loved in his neighborhood. He comes to my place all the time and he stays here at night then leaves and comes back later. - Laura." Laura and her sister who we'll call Sarah also responded to our Facebook post about a dozen times saying to let the cat go and asking if we got their email.
    via u/unnameablethings

    Okay, Laura, but what about his injured leg? Does Bongo have all of his shots? If you don't have answers to either of these questions, then the cat isn't yours, and he would do much better with a family that keeps him safe (and indoors).

  • 06
    This gave us a dilemma, because like. The cat's not her cat, right? This is a neighborhood stray she's feeding, he's not neutered, he's not getting medical care. We can't just let an unneutered unvaccinated cat back out on the streets because some people would be sad he's not wandering around in the road. There's coyotes in our neighborhood! It's cold at night! He could get hit by a car or something! We responded on the Facebook post with
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 07
    "Hi! Yes, we did get your email. In your email you said he is a neighborhood feral, and so does not have an owner or any regular medical care (his back foot is injured, he seems to have some parasites, and he is not fixed). He's a fantastic indoor cat and wonderfully suited for adoption, so we're going to take him by the Humane Society to get veterinary care, a microchip, and ideally a permanent owner."
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 08
    ABSOLUTE EXPLOSION. Laura and Sarah are now spamming the facebook post threatening to doxx us and call the police on us and show up at our house if we don't let "their" cat go. I feel like we're probably ethically in the right here, but it's extremely stressful and upsetting. If it was their cat I'd never dream of not returning him, but like. He's not!!!! They're not taking care of him!! They're changing the story now to claim he's an indoor/outdoor cat, but if that's the case, why did they emai
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 09
    Am I the ah le for stealing the cat?
    via u/unnameablethings
  • 10
    Marmot Mountain 6d ago • Part ipant [1] • Nta tell them "okay, we let the cat go...btw he seems pretty sick". Then go ahead and keep him. What are they going to do, call you a liar? "We let him go and I dunno... he must have died". If problems continue, call animal control. That's what they are here for. Btw how would they doxx you? And what are the police going to do, trace your computer over a feral cat?
    via u/Marmot_Mountain
  • 11
    feminist1946 6d ago Edited 6d ago • Colo-rectal Surgeon [34] NTA. A lilac point Siamese unneutered male kitten would come over to my house all the time. I found out he lived across the street as an indoor/outdoor cat and that the father would kick him. Finally he showed up with yellow eyes and I took him to my vet. It was already too late as he had liver damage and leukemia. I told the owners that they could have him back if they paid the vet bills. They never asked again. He died at 7 years of
    via u/feminist1946
  • 12
    Keep the cat and find him a caring home before it is too late.
    via u/feminist1946
  • 13
    Forward-Dingo1431 6d ago . • Ah le Aficionado [10] Well, first of all, you didn't steal the cat! It sought you out looking for help! He could have limped back to the area of the weird women but even he knew that he wouldn't be helped by them. Second, they can march their assessment down to the Humane society and officially adopt him and become legally responsible for his needs and well-being if they truly want to (please, no!) You did what I wish everyone would do (or at the very least make an e
    via u/Forward-Dingo1431
  • 14
    • grckalck 6d ago • NTA. Say to L&S, "If its YOUR cat, then you have been a negligent owner and I will be calling the police to report you for it." See if that backs them off. Realistically, if you let the cat back outside it will likely return to their place as it is part of its "turf". Also, this is clearly not a feral cat, as no feral walks up to a human, especially not one it does not know. Also true ferals do not meow. So the truth is that Bongo is a stray who hung out sometimes with L&S, a
    via u/grckalck
  • 15
    Which IMHO means that you have as much right to Bongo as anyone, and he will have a better life with you than as a stray going from place to place with untreated injuries, a chancy food supply and no medical care.
    via u/grckalck
  • 16
    InterestingBadger932 6d ago • Nta. ⋅ • Remove the post as it is just causing drama. • Block the 2 fools on the social media platform. • Respond to their email address that you will be speaking with the police regarding their threats to dox you, and suggest they consider their actions. Not sure if the cops can or will do anything, but I'm fairly certain that counts as harassment.
    via u/InterestingBadger932
  • 17
    softmiffy 6d ago • NTA. You're doing what's best for the kitty, who cares if they'll "miss" him when they're doing nothing to insure his health or safety
    via u/softmiffy
  • 18
    gracemrubyroses • 6d ago. Part ipant [1] Nta, and when you take him in get a breakdown of expected costs to make him healthy. Feeding him isn't taking care of him. If they keep pestering you just detail whatever the vet tells you about him injuries/etc. any person who cares about animals will be on your side.
    via u/gracemrubyroses
  • 19
    Oddveig37 6d ago. ⋅ NTA and I would reverse it back on them on Facebook and ask if they are taking care of the cat originally. If they say yes, demand to know why the cat is. in the state it's in when you found it, not neutered, injured, and starving and why they would EVER let that poor cat reach such a state and neglect it. That you are taking it to the vet and will be keeping the cat to care for it. F those kinds of people. They aren't even actually helping a feral cat colony if that cat isn'
    via u/Oddveig37
  • 20
    SorenShieldbreaker 6d ago • I can't stand the entitlement and hypocrisy of outdoor cat "owners". They do nothing to actually take care of the cat and outsource it's eating and litter box to the rest of their neighbors, but get all defensive when anyone has a problem with that or tries to trap and care for the cat.
    via u/SorenShieldbreaker
  • 21
    Lisbei 6d ago Certified Proctolog|st [23] NTA Also, if you feel like, you can copy paste their initial email which said he was a feral cat onto the Facebook post. Or, ignore them or tell them you let him out "didn't he come back to you? - hmm, very strange." In the meantime, he's getting spayed, treated and adopted.
    via u/Lisbei
  • 22
    Duin-do-ghob · 6d ago. Part ipant [3] • If I lived in the same neighborhood as Laura and Sarah the very first time the cat came to me would've been the last time they saw him as I would have claimed the cat. More like he would have claimed me. I actually did that very thing with a cat that turned up in my backyard one winter. No one rushed to say she was theirs, though. She was very happy being an indoor cat.
    via u/Duin-do-ghob
  • 23
    Uppercreek101 · 6d ago • NTA. The average lifespan of a free range cat is 3 years
    via u/Uppercreek101
  • 24
    OliverOdette 6d ago • NTA Honestly, if they were so protective of the cat, they should have made sure it was better taken care of and neutered. If they think calling the cops will help, it won't. They would have to have proof they had owned that cat before you "stole" it, aka vet bills, etc. The cat was obviously badly injured, so if they want to say it's their pet, they might get framed for animal ab e, just saying. So NTA, there the problem.
    via u/OliverOdette
  • 25
    anon23577643456 6d ago • • good news! emails are admissible in court. They called him feral and admitted they do not medically take care of him. lil homie is yours.
    via u/anon23577643456

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stray cats adoption kindhearted demanding animal rescue stole feline cat rescue feral kitty forever home injured return Cats loving women animals rescue
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