'I fear she might try to steal him': 19-year-old son saves stray kitten with no microchip or mother, but a year later a Karen neighbor recognizes the cat and claims it morally belongs to her

Author image for Blake Seidel
Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jul 8, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

If someone tried to take away a cat that we had raised for over a year, we would be purrfectly peeved, to say the least.

Imagine that the CDS blesses you with a 2-week-old kitten that you raise by hand. You wake up to feed it bottles of milk, you wrap it in blankets like the purrfect little purrito to keep it warm. You take it to the vet, give them their vaccines, and get them microchipped. And then, a year later, over some random small talk, your neighbor comes up and tries to claim the cat as hers. Um, ex-squeeze you?

The cat turns out to be from her cat's litter, who unfortunately passed over the rainbow bridge, but she has proof. Your kitten has the same white triangle patch as her cat and the other kittens in the litter. But you raised this sweet little fluffball, and this Karen demands you give it back to her. No thank you, mam. The full story is just below!

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  • 01

    [Am I wrong] for not wanting to “return” a cat to his “rightful owner”?

    'We are not giving up our boy?
    via Alena Ozerova

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Ok I know the title sounds bad. But please let me tell you both sides of the story and I hope you decide that I'm not an a
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 03
    So me (M19) and my family have a cat named Roxo and he's the love of our family. He's a black cat with white paws and undercoat. He has a peculiar triangle shape in the centre of his belly. (This'll be important later)
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 04
    We had found him as a small kitten July last year no more than 2 weeks old in our bushes in our backyard. We thought his mom just left him there and was coming back soon. But then a day passed. Still in our backyard. We left some food and water out careful not to go near him. 2 days pass.
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 05
    We decided to take him to the vet and as we expected, no microchip. After asking around the neighbourhood at a failed attempt to get someone to recognise him, we decided to adopt him.
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10526089216
    via Claudiad

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • We've never had a kitten that young before, and we're sure it's a lot of work, but we love the idea of feeding kittens with a bottle. We already treat them like our babies, and that would just seal the deal. Sure, we don't want to wake up every two hours to feed them, but man, it would be really, really cute.

  • 07
    Flash forward to now. A lady from about 9 streets up moved next to us. All was going well. You know, parent chatter and all that. Until we introduced Roxo to her and that's when she said,
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 08
    "Aww! He looks like one of my cat's babies! Unfortunately she d d in a car accident July last year. Couple weeks after she gave birth."
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 09
    She joked about a little triangle around his belly, found the triangle, compared photos and yep! He was her cat's child. Ok what a crazy coincidence right?!
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 10
    Yes, but now she wants to take Roxo. We explained to her how legally he is our cat and how he's accustomed to our living space. Plus, he's only known us. She explained how morally, he is her cat.
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 11
    We are not giving up our boy. We've been in a fight for the past few days about it.
    via Decent_Chocolate_
  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10526089728
    via chris clark from Pexels

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 13
    Edit: There's no way she had an emotional investment. My guess is she just abandoned them. She took pics as a memento and abandoned them. A kitten, especially a two week old, cannot travel 9 blocks.
    via Decent_Chocolate_

  • We're really sorry about what happened to her momma cat, but we think she left the babies to fend for themselves. This purrson helped one of them, and it's thanks to them that the kitty is still alive and thriving. 

  • 14
    [deleted] NTA. She hasn't really missed him all this time, you've had him, paid vet bills, fallen in love with him. She can just get another cat. But now I fear she might try to steal him.
    via Reddit
  • 15
    OilSeeYouL8er He's not even morally her cat, kittens aren't difficult to keep in your house, and given the mother cat was hit by a car, I doubt she does keep them in the house. She chose to add to the feral cat population of your neighborhood, you reduced the population. That's your cat
    via OilSeeYouL8er
  • 16
    countingpickles NTA If it were a week or so, I could understand. It's been almost a whole year, you've fed him, cared for him, paid for his care. He's your cat.
    via countingpickles
  • 17
    ThrowAwayAnyMouse NTA he had no microchip, was a kitten who was abandoned against its will (due to it's mom dong), has bonded with you and your family, and you've paid for everything when it
    via ThrowAwayAnyMouse
  • 18
    comes to him. Legally he's your cus she didn't even report him missing (granted it's possible she thought he d d after losing his mother and ended up starving).
    via ThrowAwayAnyMouse
  • 19
    CelticSkye NTA - It s ks what happened, but for the last year you and your family have cared for this cat. Vet bills, love and care. To this can, it's home is your home.
    via CelticSkye
  • 20
    You and your family is the cats rightful owner. If Roxo isn't microchipped, get it done, asap. It's usually not that expensive. Reddit is full of posts from people, just like you, that had their pets stolen. In the event your neighbor keeps pushing the issue or goes nuts and tries to steal the cat, you need to be able to prove the cats yours.
    via CelticSkye
  • 21
    Also, I'd suggest keeping the cat indoors at all times for the time being if Roxo likes being outside.
    via CelticSkye
  • 22
    cyanraichu NTA. She didn't even say (did she?) how a kitten in her care wound up outside in the bushes at 2 weeks old. If she wanted him, she could have kept him then. You did everything right when you adopted him and you've had him for years. He's your cat.
    via cyanraichu
  • 23
    Warriormuffinhed Uhhh.....what? Her cat had babies outside. In the bushes. By itself. How did this woman have pics of the newborns but then you found them outside?
    via Warriormuffinhed
  • 24
    She abandoned them. That's how. newborn kittens don't walk outside on their own. She must have taken it outside and abandoned it rather than give them to a no kill shelter for adoption. Otherwise there's no way she'd have pics on her phone if her cat had kittens outside, 9 blocks away from her house.
    via Warriormuffinhed

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neighbors adoption strange kitten animal rescue adopted cat rescue forever home Cats loving cute kittens animals rescue karen
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