‘I feel like the most horrible person in the world right now when I was just trying to do the right thing.’: A stray cat's choice to live with a neighbor rather than his owner, who has a history of pet neglect, leads to an emotional and legal battle

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Sep 20, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Cats are a complicated bunch. Even when it comes to their food they can be the pickest and most flippant beings on the planet, suddenly deciding that some part of their regular meal service no longer suits their desires, acting out in over the top ways to express their disdain. Which is not all too different from the story we have lined up for you today.

For the cat child in question seemingly got bored, but not off his food options, but of his pawrents, and took it upon himself to live the semi-stray life until he would meet the pawrent he actually wanted. Cue a series of attempted returns, cuddles and cute times until his new pawrent submitted to his decision and they began their lives together, albeit with more than a few complications along the way. This is the story of feline determination, proving that cats can never be stopped.
 

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  • 01
    So in my neighbourhood there are alot of stray cats. They're fed by the neighbours, in particular there's a lady across the road
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    that feeds all of them. There's often 5 to 10 cats being fed on the nature strip. I leave food out for them too. It's a community effort to keep these cats cared for and fed.
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  • 03
    There was a male cat that I've seen a fair few times in my garden, and hanging out with the other strays. He started
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  • 04
    being a frequent flyer in my backyard. He would come in and seem very lost and hungry. He was a little bit dirty and a little bit skinny. He was unfixed. He was
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  • How curious. The fact that this stray was both hungry and lost might actually contribute something to the ongoing attempts to understand the motivations of cats, especially when they are hungry. This might finally help explain why cats are so scared of being hungry, maybe they lose their sense of direction on an empty stomach…

  • 05
    crying and it seemed like he had no where to go. I fed him and then that was it he would not leave my yard.
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    I tried shooing him away several times over the course of a few days but he wouldn't leave. He cried and begged at my front door and back door to be let inside. I had to pick
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    him up and kind of gently throw him away from the door just to get inside he was that desperate. At one point he even managed to sneak
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    inside but I put him back outside hoping he would go away. He didn't, and it was getting cold so I put a bed outside for him. He stayed there all night and was still there in the morning.
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    This continued for a day or two until I caved and let him in. I put him outside every night as he seemed like a street cat and I wasn't sure if he knew how to use the kitty litter
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    etc and I didn't want any accidents while he was unsupervised. He continued to be there every morning and would beg to come inside so I let him.
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  • Wow, we do not know how this kind rescuer managed to keep the darling catto outside for days, we would have caved at the sound of a single meow after putting him outside the first time. But there is no denying that they did the right thing, if he was someone else’s he and his pawrent deserve every chance of reconnecting.

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    tabby cat stray
    via DRBURHAN via Adobe Stock

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

  • 12
    I checked him for a microchip with my scanner and he did not have a chip. Since he wasn't desexed and seemed a bit dirty and underfed I assumed he was one of the street cats so I
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    decided to take him in properly. I even knocked on a few neighbours doors and no one knew where he was from and the lady that feeds the street cats confirmed she feeds him sometimes.
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    I thought well if he's going to live with me he'll need to get desexed, vaccinated, and microchipped as that's the responsible thing to do. Two hours after I
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    dropped him off for his procedure I saw a post on a lost pets page with his picture. My heart sank. I tried to call the vets to see if they had started his
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    surgery or not and if not to cancel it (well my partner had to because I was in full panic can't function mode) but he was already done and dusted and in recovery.
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    The thing is the lady that's posted looking for him if you click on her name you can see other things she's posted in the group and less then a year
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    ago another cat of hers went missing who was not desexed or microchipped either and she never found that cat. Why did she not learn from her mistake and let another one of her
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    cats outside not chipped or desexed? Now I've seen him around for a few months so I know she must live near by. Surely if he
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    wanted to go back to her he would have. He ended up in my yard begging and crying to be let in a week prior to me actually letting him in. When I did
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    let him in I let him outside every day and made him sleep outside at night and he still kept coming back to my house. I honestly thought he was a street cat and he was acting like a street cat without a home. I decided to
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    give him a home and do all the things for him as soon as possible. I feel like the most horrible person in the world right now when I was just trying to do the right thing. Now I
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    don't know what to do. I feel like I've mutilated someone else's cat. He's obviously in pain right now after just having surgery and can't be let outside for a week or two while he heals. I feel
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    like if I do reach out to her then I will wait until he is healed so then it doesn't seem like I hurt him as he's still recovering and it might be confronting to her.
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    But then I also feel like he came to me for a reason, and why is she being an irresponsible pet owner with not just this one cat, but the other one that she lost as well. Also why is he skinny etc. Also
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    if I do reach out to her, will she be angry at me for what I've done to her cat. The other cat that she lost she mentioned that she was due to be desexed and microchipped in two weeks when she went missing. So I
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    orange cat loafing looking scruffy
    via Masarik via Adobe Stock

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

  • 28
    know she believes in that stuff. Maybe she couldn't afford it at the time and she won't be angry and will be grateful for my generosity... but what if she is so mad. And then will there be legal implications for me.
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    I tried my best I checked for micro chip and knocked on doors. I thought he needed a home. I honestly don't know what to do. I bought all these toys for him. The best of the best food (royal canin) and beds and
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    a cat tower. I did all the things for him. I been crying all day about it. I feel so awful. What should I do???
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  • 31
    Pr... The previous "owner" wasn't taking proper care of their cat(s). You are.
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  • 32
    Congratulation s on your new furry friend. Just don't let him outside at all, and you'll have a long, happy life together.
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things stray cats world choice live person horrible right legal emotional feel reddit story cat story cat owners pet neglect neighbor
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