Neighbors discover they've been raising the same cat for years without knowing, leading to a dispute about who owes the friendly feline: ‘Not sure what the protocol is here’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Oct 22, 2025 10:00 PM EDT

Letting your cat be an outdoor cat who freely roams the streets means you obviously cannot know everything they are up to during the day. They can be little aliens planning the destruction of planet Earth with the rest of the neighborhood cats, and you would know nothing about it.

Realistically, the biggest secret outdoor cats can keep from their owners is that they are dancing at two weddings, having two owners at the same time. Which is exactly what happened with the sneaky cat in the story below.

After years of taking care of this silly cat, the owner decided to put a collar and a tracker to always know where she is when she comes and goes. The same day, this owner gets a call from a neighbor who claims that the cat is actually his, and that he even had her spayed and microchipped. This led to quite a lengthy discussion between the two owners, who tried to figure out who had a bigger claim for the cat, who had enjoyed the comfort of both of their homes so far.

Who do you think should get to claim ownership of this friendly feline? Keep scrolling to read the full tale.

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  • 01

    Turns out the cat we’ve been taking care of for years has an owner.

    I decided to get a collar and a tracker for the cat we've been caring for.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10566448128
    via KingsRansom79
  • 03
    She's been coming inside for the last few years and before that she lived in a heated cat house on our porch.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 04
    The collar has my cell number on it. I just put it on her today and I got a call from someone asking about the collar.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 05
    Of course I called him back right away. He was really nice. He had her spayed and microchipped years ago.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 06
    I didn't argue his claim to the cat. I did explain that she was born in my backyard and was cared for by the neighbors but abandoned when they moved away.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 07
    Apparently not long after he took her to the vet she started coming around our house.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 08
    My daughter is worried that they'll eventually take her away. I'm going to continue to feed and care for her the way we always have.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10566447616
    via KingsRansom79
  • 10
    Not sure what the protocol is here. She spends most of the day around and all night inside my house.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 11
    Apparently she goes to his house in the mornings when we let her out. She still won't use the litter box.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 12
    Bennington_Booyah My next door neighbors had two cats, and the orange one decided he loved us. He was over 24/7. They tried and tried to keep him home but he was here daily. I was cool with it. Well, they kept getting more cats and the big orange fully refused to go back. We won't allow him in because he was not neutered for years and sprayed. He roamed the neighborhood and another neighbor decided they would keep him. Great, right? Well, he is here every single night. Comes in our cat door, eat
    via Bennington_Booyah
  • 13
    OP Kings Ransom79 I think this is kinda what happened. He took care of her when she was initially abandoned. She eventually decided that our house was her preferred home. She still goes back over to visit but won't go inside his house. She mostly lives here now.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10566447872
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  • 15
    enderjaca If OP never took this cat to the vet, then I'd have to disagree with the other comments here saying it's OP's cat. They almost certainly haven't, otherwise there's a good chance OP's vet would have noticed during an annual checkup.
    via enderjaca
  • 16
    OP Kings Ransom79 I hadn't taken her yet. I'd actually just made an appointment for next month that I will now cancel. She'll let us pet and hold her but never her belly so I hadn't noticed any scarring from a spaying.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 17
    Dulce59 I'm a little confused-- if she was born in your backyard, how did someone else get them chipped first? And all he did was get them chipped and then neglected them again so you picked up the slack...?? Like, if they were born in your backyard but then summarily adopted and chipped, that makes sense. But this sounds like more than that, like you cared for them in the beginning and after, but somewhere in the middle they were spayed and chipped by said neighbor. Unless they were simply born
    via Dulce59 l
  • 18
    OP Kings Ransom79 I'm not arguing against his claim. He had her fixed and chipped probably just after the original neighbor (directly next door) that was feeding her moved away. This guy is 1 block over and apparently he takes care of a few neighborhood cats.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 19
    Ok_Badger_7948 Double dipping for cat treats.
    via Ok_Badger_7948
  • 20
    OP Kings Ransom79 You'd think she would be a big chonker eating at two houses but she's not. She's actually kinda small. And she mostly lays around outside protecting the house from small critters.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 21
    late2reddit19 Did you ever check for a chip? You should have chipped the cat when you decided that you'd be the owner.
    via late2reddit19
  • 22
    OP KingsRansom79 I actually just made her an appointment to the vet to get her vaccinated next month. Gonna call and cancel on Monday. ¯\ (ツ)/¯
    via KingsRansom79
  • 23
    jd3marco And keep her in.
    via jd3marco
  • 24
    OP Kings Ransom79 I would but she won't use the litter box. She cries at the door to go out and do her business. When it's really cold she'll go and then come right back to the door to be let back inside.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 25
    glenndaruadh The cat is microchipped. It has an owner who has done the right thing spaying and microchipping their cat. It obviously goes home because the owner called you the same day you put a collar on their cat. It seems to go against the first few comments but in my opinion the protocol is that unless agreed otherwise you should stop feeding someone else's cat.
    via glenndaruadh
  • 26
    OP Kings Ransom79 She's asleep on my couch next to my daughter right now. She came inside when the sun went down like she's been doing every night for years.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 27
    Mollytovcocktail1111 Hmmm. A joint custody cat. Well, the guy you talked to sounds nice and therefore is hopefully compassionate and reasonable. If he knew there was a little girl who is very emotionally attached to the cat, perhaps there can be an agreement, even a legal one, that the cat stay with you should he leave the area and move. He might be amenable to that The fact that she hangs around your house during the day and spends every night inside your house says to me she is absolutely more
    via Mollytovcocktail1111
  • 28
    OP Kings Ransom79 Apparently he feeds several neighborhood cats. They have shelter outside in his backyard. I think he assumed that she was in his backyard at night when he'd see her in the mornings. He didn't realize she spent most of her day and all night in and around my house.
    via KingsRansom79
  • 29
    SeashoreSeashelley In photo 2 she looks like she IS the owner
    via SeashoreSeashelley
  • 30
    OP Kings Ransom79 She definitely is
    via KingsRansom79

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