'I think my cat isn't my cat’: Feline father's cat runs away, he finds "his cat" months later, only to realize that the fluffy feline is an adorable impawster

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jan 22, 2025 12:00 PM EST

Hey, feline family and friends. One of the scariest things that could pawssibly happen to us as cat owners is for our cats to accidentally run away. Lost cats are much harder to find than lost dogs. Thankfully it hasn't ever happened to us, but it's a story that's all too common amongst us pawrents. The fear you will never find them again can be overwhelming. Luckily, the internet is full of happy stories of people finding their cats again! This one, however, is not quite what we expected. 

After losing their cat in October, this feline father was going through it. But, a few weeks ago, one of their neighbors messaged them saying that they had found their cat! Cue the happy dance! However, upon further inspection, the cat dad started to question some things. The cat responded to his name…but had different colored toe beans than his original cat. The pictures below show the differences, and we have to say, this is quite the kitty conundrum! Scroll down to see if they are different cats or not…we're honestly not sure.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to start your Caturday with the funniest felines on the internet!

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01

    I think my cat isn’t my cat.

    So. My cat went missing October 14th, 2024. I got a hopeful message a couple weeks ago. He had been found! It looked just like him in the pictures the woman sent to me so of course I went to her house to look. I took him home because I was eager and excited that I'd found my cat who'd been missing for forever.
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 02
    Left paw My cat
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 03
    My Cat Right pat
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 04
    My Cat
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88

  • This is undoubtedly a very cute standard-issue-cat, or a SIC, as we say in the cat world. SICs are ameowzing. They're adorable. However, it is very hard to tell one SIC from another, hence this dad's issue. There are a few differences, but if the cat comes to its name…maybe it just went through a metamorphosis while living on the streets?

  • 05
    My Cat Left paw
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 06
    My Cat Right paw Back pa
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 07
    My cat
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 08
    He was somewhat skiddish but still clearly domesticated. Used the litter box. Even came to me when I called his name.. and crawled into my lap himself. I thought oh my god it is him. But he was missing something. My cat had a strange rasp. It's hard to explain but point being, the cat in my possession doesn't have said rasp. I thought, wow, his raspy little wheeze is gone, that's great! I was always worried it was because my cat was sick so yay! No more sickies! Then I noticed his paws. His toes
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 09
    Possible imposter All pink neither of my cats back paws were all pink)
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 10
    1117 1755161441 Right paw Possible Imposta
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 11
    I'm googling and searching for an explanation that might explain away how toe beans can switch from pink to black and black to pink, hoping that I'm not back at square one. That Ciggy is still missing. And I'm so scared to out my cute little imposter. Of course I want to provide a home to this cutie. But I can't sleep knowing my kitty might still be out there.
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 12
    Maybe not my cat
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 13
    Not him?
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 14
    Left paw
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 15
    Part of me feels like if this is my kitty there wouldn't be a doubt in my mind right now. And that I know if I accept this isn't him, I might lose hope for my Ciggy. Please help. me. Please someone explain away these changes ✔
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88
  • 16
    Please keep in mind that the photos of my cat are from ages 6-9 months. Meaning the now photos would be 18-19 months
    via u/Shaquille_oatmeal_88

  • We're surprised this pawrent didn't go into more detail about the personality characteristics of his cat and this new cat. Are their purrsonalities also similar? We feel like we would know the difference between our cat and a random cat, even if they looked the same. You never know, though!

  • 17
    DuckSleazzy. Stanislav Zak Purrtacular 8 hrs. Last month my cat disappeared. A week ago I found him and brought him home. Today my cat came back. Now I have two identical cats. 6.2K 685 Comments
    via Stanislav Zak
  • 18
    saifis Top 1% Commenter So this is the part where in a few months your cat just appears at your front door and are confused you have two nearly looking alike cats.
    via u/saifis
  • 19
    Spaghett8. They have noticeably different tabby patterns outside of their paws. Not your cat. But he is very very friendly for not your cat.
    via u/Spaghett8
  • 20
    AdFriendly8846. I took a couple of zoomed in screenshots of their faces and I have to say that to me at least there's enough noticeable differences that I'm pretty convinced it's not the same cat. And that's without even taking the paws into account.
    via u/AdFriendly8846
  • 21
    Intelligent_File4779 . I also don't believe the cat can change toe bean color. TBH, I think it's not your cat. I'm sorry, but a cat's meow or voice. doesn't suddenly change at least from experience. We always know who it is that's talking in our house. It doesn't mean that you haven't found a new furry family member, but if you have any previous vet records and or chip on your cat, that might help. I'm so sorry, I could be way wrong, but the bean and pad colors are their's at birth. Good luck, t
    via u/Intelligent_File4779
  • 22
    LivinLikeNivin I don't believe their pad color would change (especially from black to pink) past the age you're saying they got lost at... but maybe keep this imposter while you look for yours to ease the pain
    via u/LivinLikeNivin
  • 23
    SquisharooNTimbuk2 . I lost my cat Leo and someone thought they found him while I was gone at work. My neighbor had a key and let them in to drop off this cat that we will call "Buddy". I got home from work as fast as possible thrilled to see Leo who had been gone for a week at this point. Immediately I see the cat who looks exactly like Leo but there's just something a little off about him. He
    via u/SquisharooNTimbuk2
  • 24
    doesn't respond to my voice the same way as Leo, my other cat is treating him weird... but he does respond to the name Leo. Still, I'm convinced this isn't my Leo so we call him Buddy so my kids don't get bonded. We have the vet check him for a chip bc my Leo is chipped and sure enough this guy isn't chipped. It took a week but we found the rightful owner of Buddy, living seven
    via u/SquisharooNTimbuk2
  • 25
    miles away. And you'll never guess what Buddy's name was ... yes you will, it was Leo. I lost my boy Leo, found his twin Leo, reunited other Leo with his family and am still looking for my Leo to this day.
    via u/SquisharooNTimbuk2
  • 26
    Guesswho142 The markings don't look the same on the nose. I see a black dot on the top of second cat but not on your cat. I may be wrong
    via u/Guesswho142
  • 27
    ViBePho. Your cat sure did change! Change of food van change the color of the fur, but not the patterns. Also, the roots of the whiskers are different.
    via u/ViBePho
  • 28
    Dangerous_Age337. It's probable that you switched cats with someone.
    via u/Dangerous_Age337
  • 29
    Dulland Chill95 This happened to my brother! He had a shorted haired black cat that escaped. A few days later they saw "him" and brought him back in. Well, my sister in law was petting him and he seemed super open to belly scratches which he was not fond of ever and come to find out it was the neighbor's cat. The good part of the story was they did end up finding theirs a few weeks later!
    via u/DullandChill95

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

fluffy felines run away adorable cute not my cat cute cats funny cats feline Cats funny imposter animals Father
Scroll Down For The Next Article