26-year-old cat rescuer suspects feline fraud when he finds a lost kitty and the "owners" try to claim her, but not even the microchip matches their description: 'I took this cat to two different vets and neither could find one'

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Oct 18, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

We can't imagine how desperate one must be to find a lost cat. We wouldn't be able to sleep. We would make flyers, walk around with their furvorite treats and call out their name for hours, and if we could, employ the use of our friends and family to make a search party at night. It sounds like one of the most pawsitively stressful things you could go through as a cat owner. So, when you see a post of a found cat that looks like your lost cat, you might be tempted to jump at the chance without looking too closely at the details. That's what we'd like to think, anyway.

But there are some dubious people out there, and for whatever reason, some people like to scam others, take lost cats, and claim them as their own. The cat rescuer below might be going through just that - after finding a lost kitty and posting about it, the "owners" try to claim her, but he sees that the fur, eyes, and even microchip don't match up. He took the cat to two different vets, and not one of them found said microchip, even though the "owners" claim that she 100% has one. There are other inconsistencies below, but could the cat have changed a bit while it was lost? Maybe the microchip moved? Find out more by scrolling down!

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    Cheezburger Image 10564439040
    via Bob_Wong
  • 02
    Duralast CK YOUR OLD BRAKE PADS P F
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  • 03
    The first two pictures are of the cat I(26M) found and the second two are what they sent me of their cat.
    via Bob_Wong
  • 04
    I think the pattern on her left arm doesn't match very well and in addition, the cat I found appearing to have a much more orange left side of her face than the cat in the pictures they sent me.
    via Bob_Wong

  • If this is an honest mistake, we can see how they would be confused. They do look very similar. However, there are too many differences for us to just accept their claim outright. What do you think? Are they the same cat?

  • 05
    They told me that their cat definitely has a microchip so I took this cat to two different vets and neither of them could find a microchip.
    via Bob_Wong
  • 06
    This cat was also found (in Colorado springs) about a 35 minute drive away from the city where these people live, so I'm also not sure how a cat could get that far of a distance.
    via Bob_Wong
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    Cheezburger Image 10564439552
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    The cat I found also has a different color collar than the one they said their cat had when it first went missing.
    via Bob_Wong
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    Cheezburger Image 10564439808
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    The cat I found also smells like a fresh load of dried laundry and has super soft fur so I'm not sure how she could be so clean from such a far hike.
    via Bob_Wong
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    fruityflyy How did the "owners" respond when you told them about the lack of chip / different color collar? Hope the sweet baby finds its way back and home and thank you for caring for it in the meantime!
    via fruityflyy
  • 12
    Bob_Wong They responded with Google Al overview saying that chips can migrate and fall out or stop working. They refuse to accept that this isn't their cat and is begging me to meet them in person. They just refuse to acknowledge the different color collar. I really hope I find her home but I think they are just not it
    via Bob_Wong

  • We also think they're not it. Why would someone want to steal somebody else's lost cat? We have no idea. We can't even imagine a reason why someone would do such a horrible thing. They're preventing a family from ever being reunited. It's terrible.

  • 13
    amihee Pictures look completely different to me! Definitely not the same cat.
    via amihee
  • 14
    Jennymint Same breed, different cat. Eyes are completely different.
    via Jennymint
  • 15
    wet-grains-6834 · Not the same cat
    via wet-grains-6834
  • 16
    MountainSpite6431 The nose knows all. Their cat has a white nose and lips your cat doesn't
    via MountainSpite6431
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    kjalways 3d ago Trust your guts and reasoning. They are just gaslighting you. If someone had lost her and wanted her back, they would be posting, calling around, etc... The animal welfare in my city gives people 4 days to reclaim
    via kjalways
  • 18
    their pet before putting them up for adoption. We lost pets in the past. One the Animal Welfare connected us with the people who found our dog. Another woman found our ad on Craigslist for our lost kitten.
    via kjalways
  • 19
    BringerOfSocks Not even remotely the same cat. I would be worried about a possible scam. Be careful not to give out too much personal information.
    via BringerOfSocks
  • 20
    lilduckling369 The face size too. The cat u found has a smaller face
    via lilduckling369
  • 21
    KirkfishBilly Have you dropped their image into google image search... maybe they even just yanked it off the net. Not same cat and its owner would see the key trait differences
    via KirkfishBilly
  • 22
    Some-Pitch-1318 Just want to say I love that you describe the cat's smell as a "fresh load of dried laundry." That's what my baby smells like too.
    via Some-Pitch-1318
  • 23
    EDIT UPDATE: We found the owner and she - is now home! Turned out to be from across the street from where she was found. I'm glad I was able to get her back home and I thank everyone here who contributed to making sure she was identified correctly! I put up found cat posters and the owner saw the posters while putting up their own lost cat posters.
    via Bob_Wong

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microchip animal rescue cat owners feline cat rescue fraud kitty Cats vets animals rescue
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