Random microchipped cat falls onto the 5th floor balcony of an apartment, the owner doesn't show up to look for it for 36 hours, then tells the neighbor to just drop the cat off outside her apartment: 'She can claim we stole him and sue us for it'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Jul 1, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

One of our biggest fears ever, as cat owners who live in an apartment, is our cat falling off our balcony. Before moving into our apartment, we thought about this exact thing endlessly, looking for solutions, looking at cat nets, at anything that might prevent this from happening. Because we knew what it would mean if we didn't do something about it and our cat fell. 

At best, our cats would end up at a neighbor's. Which is thankfully what happened here. But the most unexpected part of this story to us is the at owner's reaction. Instead of rushing to get her lost cat back the moment she realized where it was, she seemed like she didn't care. This cat owner claims to love her cat but certainly doesn't act like it. You would be rushing to hug your kitty as soon as you found out who had it if you did, not asking the person who found your cat to just drop it off in front of your apartment. 

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  • 01

    "A cat fell into our 5th floor balcony and owner did not pick him up over 36 hours"

    Cheezburger Image 10523214080
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  • 02
    My dad and mom lives separately. My dad does not like cats and live on the 5th floor on an apartment, it is the house on top of the apartment and we do not have any floors above us so when my dad woke up to find a cat laying on ground he was surprised.
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 03
    He talked to neighbours and apparantly it belongs to the apartment next to ours, he is in contact with a neighbour there because the owner wasn't at home and said her work did not let her leave early. He really doesn't like cats so he let the cat hang around in the balcony but around the night he saw the cat meowing at him from the window on his ceiling and thought this cat will fall somewhere again so he let him in. My cat's old litter box was there so he put him in my old room with it and a ca
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 04
    Me, my mom and my cat live in another house 15-20 minutes away from my dad, we are happy to take him in by the time being. My question is, is it okay for us to take him in our house? It is away from the owner but she never came yesterday and today my dad is going to go out with friends, he is not a person who will cancel plans over a cat and he does not want anything to do with cats anyways. What should we do if the owner shows up or just never shows up?
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 05
    Dad facetimed us and showed the cat, he is walking around well and seems to be cuddly and energetic so i do not think he hurt his bones or anything when he fell but we should take him to vet right?
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 06
    Tasty_Stop_1226 Please do take him in!! Please take him to the vet! Keep us updated please
    via Tasty_Stop_1226
  • 07
    -ilovejellyfish- OP As a small update: We went to my dad's house to check up on him and take him to our house, however he was covered in fleas so we had to take him to get a flea shot immidately. Vet said he looked healthy, doesnt have any injuries and he is chipped so i can't take him without owner's permission. We are keeping him in the office for now also we forgot to ask the vet but i just remembered i think he is not neutered
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 08
    because there is a cat pee smell coming from the office so he mightve sprayed somewhere when he was here overnight. We called her neighbour again, he said put him in a box and leave him by her door if she still doesnt reach so we might do that since we have my cat's old carriage box here and we can put some water and food inside with our phone number if she really wants to get rid of the cat. We can't do
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 09
    anything without the owner's permission right now since she can claim we stole him and sue us for it. The neighbour also said she was so worried when the cat was lost and went all to her neighbours crying and asking if they saw her cat since she lives alone and thats all she has so i feel bad for her but i do not know why she acts so neglectful about him right now there was so many options for her to reach us but she didnt.
    via -ilovejellyfish-

  • We have to say that it does not sound like this owner cares about this cat all that much. Crocodile tears. And you know what? Even if she does love the cat like she claims too, that doesn't give her the right to neglect the cat and let it live in conditions like this.

  • 10
    Deep Picture6111 Congratulations on your beautiful new cat, I hope it isn't too injured from the neglect of its previous owners.
    via Deep_Picture6111
  • 11
    -ilovejellyfish- OP Vet said he seems very healthy at least, he wasnt hurt from his jump too just he is covered in fleas and so we got his parasite shot but that was all we could do because he is chipped. It wasnt the vet he goes to apparently so they didnt have his records, we dont know if the owner is neglecting his other shots but it looked like he didnt have his flea one for sure since i do not think it was possible for him to have so many just being outside for a day
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 12
    Enough_Radish_9574 The cat's fall should be less worrisome than the poor thing's living condition. It is absolutely unacceptable for this neighbor not to even contact your father to give a status. We do not "own" our pets. We are their caregivers. Ask yourself if it's the neighbor or the cat's WELFARE that is more at stake. If you can provide a loving caring home there is no ethical dilemma here whatsoever. It's people like you who make the world a better place. ♥
    via Enough_Radish_9574
  • 13
    -ilovejellyfish- OP I would love to keep him he is so sweet and cute also has heterochromia, sadly he is chipped so i cant keep him if the owner doesnt give him to us willingly. We got his flea shot and waiting for her to contact us still for now
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10523213312
    via -ilovejellyfish-

  • We understand the risk in just taking the cat, but god, we hope that you do. A cat owner that actually cared about their cat would drop everything and go get their cat back once they knew where it was. They wouldn't tell you to dump the cat outside their house.

  • 15
    -ilovejellyfish- OP He fell into our 5th floor balcony from the apartment next to ours so i think 6-7th floor to our 5th floor. Our house is on the top of our apartment so it was so weird to see a cat there all of a sudden
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 16
    -ilovejellyfish- OP UPDATE FOR NOW: we had to go back home so my sister dad stayed by the cat till my dad had to go out to meet his friends. Owner didnt come still so we called the neighbour again, he said if we don't want to leave the cat in front of the door we can leave the cat to him and he would give her tonight. While my dad was trying to give him the cat he escaped again but they caught him and he is with
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 17
    the neighbour now. It is 3 am and my dad was drink when he came back around 2 am and he is not staying at his house tonight so we don't know if he gave the cat to the owner and cant call them right now. He will go to his house tomorrow to see if the cat is safe also if he falls (or thrown we do not know but neighbour tells me he knows her and she loves animals and been with the cat for years)
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 18
    the same way again he left the balcony door open so he can get inside to the office and there is tuna and water waiting for him from yesterday. Hopefully i can give an update tomorrow. Here is him eating, he has such a big head lol.
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 19
    Also we showered the second i came home but when my cat was sleeping he jumped up and started running in the house before he started chewing on his bot so i am scared he might somehow have fleas maybe from our clothes before we showered i do not know, he always jumped like that when he had fleas (the time i mentioned in the comments) but he got his flea and parasite treatment when his glands raptured like a month ago so it shouldn't be due soon.
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 20
    The vet texts me when his vaccine times are coming up. I couldn't see any fleas on him but his fur is brownish so its harder to see but i still i told that to my mom and she will get a flea remover drop from vet tomorrow just in case.
    via -ilovejellyfish-
  • 21
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  • 22
    Trash2024Shopper Doesn't seem like the owner is too worried about the cat at all. Perhaps the cat needs a new home so it feels loved? It definitely needs to be seen by a vet, but if I were taking it to get seen, it would be mine to love now. It's been over a day and they couldn't be bothered to get it.
    via Trash2024Shopper

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