18-year-old triplets kindly adopt grandmother's cat, only for their cousin to show up a year and a half later claiming the cat is hers, threatening to call the police or steal him: 'She suddenly grabbed Tom'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Apr 29, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

The cat's well-being should always come first. That is what should be the lesson from this story. Once a cat's owner passes or can no longer take care of them, people can have all the disputes that they want about who gets to have the cat now, but what matters more than anything is the cat's opinion about it. And usually, it's pretty clear. The cat distribution system makes sure that the feline goes to its rightful second owner. And that's actually exactly what happened in today's story. 

Unfortunately, the elderly owner of this cat could no longer take care of her, so the three triplet granddaughters stepped in. They adopted the cat, they took care of it, they made sure that she was happy in her new home. What more could you ask for? If the cat is happy, then everyone should be happy, right? Apparently not, because after a year and a half of not reaching out, suddenly, the triplet's cousin shows up out of nowhere, saying that the cat is "legally hers" because she was the one who bought it for the grandmother in the first place. But the cat didn't want to go with her…

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  • 01

    "[Am I wrong] for refusing to give a cat I've had for a year and a half back to his 'rightful' owner?"

    Cheezburger Image 10497364992
    via Unsplash / Nadin Thirteen

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    I (18F) and my siblings (18F and 18F) have been taking care of our grandmother's cat, Tom, for around a year and a half since she has been unable to care for him. My grandmother used to live with us until she sadly had to be moved to a nursing. home and couldn't take him with her of course, so his custody naturally fell to us.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 03
    We have three other cats, so he is our 4th fur baby and they feel like my own children. Especially because I have a disability which causes me to be home a lot, so I am with them 24/7.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 04
    Now is when I should mention that my cousin, we'll call her Sally (24F) bought the cat as a gift for our grandmother. He never lived with Sally, but legally, he is her cat. So after a year and a half of him being in our care, Sally shows up out of the blue demanding we give him back to her. Now, Sally and I are not close at all, family drama that would be too much to dive into for this story has made our relationship very distant.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 05
    And initially when my grandmother moved into her nursing home, Sally did not contact us whatsoever about wanting Tom back. We are a very tight-knit family, so everyone knew about my grandmother's condition and how we were taking in Tom. Sally had to have known through her mom (my aunt) about what was happening. And again, I have to re-iterate that in the year and a half he has been in our care she never once asked about him or told us she was interested in taking him back.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 06
    So, Sally started texting my mom and my sister multiple times demanding for Tom back. We at first were asking her why she just now wanted him back and asked if we could talk about this more in depth before making a decision. However, despite our inquiries she didn't budge, with her only explanation being that he was "legally hers" and no other reasoning.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 07
    We were concerned about Tom living with her since she doesn't have good rep with pets, and Tom is also bonded to one of the other cats living with us, and I know bonded cats can become very distressed when separated. I will be the first to admit my sisters and I were being very defensive (that's our child), so we probably didn't help in calming the argument. Things got
    via amy_ainsy
  • 08
    more heated, and Sally texted me and I quote, "Do we want to involve police and ruin whatever this family is or?" So, suffice to say, this day was very rough. The argument ended with our dad saying that if she ever came around our house to take him, he would chase her off the property. None of us handled this in a very levelheaded way and I look back and wish I said things more rationally.
    via amy_ainsy

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  • 09
    Later that week, my aunt showed up to our house pretending like she was only there to visit. Before she left, she suddenly grabbed Tom and said she needed to take him back to Sally. To try and not cause an even bigger fight, my sisters and I let him go even though we were all heartbroken.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 10
    We were very worried about him because Sally lives in a house with many dogs, and one dog that recently just had puppies, so we didn't know how safe Tom would be and if he would be getting properly taken care of. I fell into a very depressive state and a week later texted her asking for a photo of him to see how he was doing. Which went completely ignored and we never got any updates as to how he was.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 11
    About a month or two later (this time frame is very blurry I apologize but I was going through it lol) Sally randomly called my mom saying she was going to bring Tom back to us. I still don't know the exact reason why she decided this, we didn't want to question it in fear she would change her mind. I theorized that they had too many animals to take care of in her house. But I was so happy I honestly didn't even care why.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 12
    When we were finally reunited with Tom, he smelled horrible and was extremely on edge. Sally said that he had started meowing repeatedly right as she pulled into our driveway. We now have a (slightly) better relationship with Sally, but she never really asks about Tom.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 13
    This all happened around a year ago, and yesterday Sally came over to our house for some family business. She went looking for Tom and immediately went to pick him up, but he hissed in her face, jumped out of her arms, and hid under the table until she left. He NEVER hisses at anyone or anything, so this really shocked us but honestly seemed well deserved.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 14
    So, my question is, am I the ah le for refusing to give Sally her cat? I've thought about this situation over and over and I'm so afraid that we are the ah les. All I want is for Tom to be safe and happy (he very much is now) And if we are the a h les I will fully admit to it and apologize to her, but I just felt so protective over him and thought he wouldn't properly be taken care of. Thank you all for reading :)
    via amy_ainsy
  • 15
    Cheezburger Image 10497364480
    via Unsplash / Nadin Thirteen

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • What a mess. It's a good thing that this cousin came to her senses and returned the cat to you, because if it wasn't obvious that it would be a bad environment before he went there, it's certainly obvious that was the case after he came back. Do not let her near this cutie cat again.

  • 16
    EDIT: Just wanted to add that the main reason i wrote this post was not because of the legality of the issue, because even though Sally threatened police and court none of our family including her has the money to actually bring this issue to court.
    via amy_ainsy
  • 17
    The main reason we posted this is because everyone in our family (except our dad and one or two of our other cousins) said that we were causing rifts in the family, and that we just needed to give her the cat and move on. Honestly with how everyone was getting mad at us we felt like we were going CRAZYYY so it is so nice to see everyone agreeing with us bahaha
    via amy_ainsy
  • 18
    Cheezburger Image 10497364736
    via Unsplash / Nadin Thirteen

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The fact that the aunt had the audacity to come to their house and essentially kidnap this cat… keep the cat away from both of them, honestly. And check on the dogs that they have. We hope that at least they are being treated better than this poor kitty. 

  • 19
    aslrebecca Hello triplets. So, hypothetical question. When you buy a present for someone and give it to them, is it theirs to keep or is it always yours? Your cousin bought the cat for grams. That means it was a gift. It's not your cousin's cat, and never was. She bought it with the intention of gifting it. The moment she gifted it, the cat was not hers to demand.
    via aslrebecca
  • 20
    imasupernatural My heart ached reading this, no your are not, Tom was traumatized. It sounds like he was neglected at that house, Don't let her near Tom!
    via imasupernatural
  • 21
    CharKrat Tom never legally belonged to Sally. She got him and gave him to your grandmother. Your grandmother was the owner. And she gave Tom to you.
    via CharKrat
  • 22
    WifeofBath 1984 Legally, she abandoned her cat. So no, he's not legally hers. NTA
    via WifeofBath1984
  • 23
    Soft_Carpenter_2644 NTA. You've cared for Tom, and he's happy with you. His well-being is the priority
    via Soft_Carpenter_2644

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