Neglected kitten ignored during rain storm by owners, neighbor rescues her from the cold and considers adopting her furrever: 'My heart breaks at the thought of that sweet little baby outside in the cold and the rain 24/7'

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Nov 3, 2025 6:00 PM EST

Cats are really adaptive animals. They truly do have 9 lives, and their nimble athleticism helps them in any situation they may get themselves into. That being said, there are obvious indicators of a neglected animal. Sometimes when you see a parent who doesn't treat their child well, you may think to yourself, "why did they even have kids?" But what's even more confusing is when you see someone treat their pet poorly. Having a cat comes with a basic level of responsibility, and if the owner isn't prepared to handle the tasks involved, like keeping the cat inside, then they shouldn't get a pet at all. 

Take the story below as a PSA against animal neglect. The protagonist is a woman who has cat owning neighbors. They adopted a few cats, but all of them are 100% fully outdoor cats. It already begs the question of why they adopted the cats in the first place. After seeing their new kitten outside in the rain, she takes her in as her own. 

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  • 01

    Would I be in the wrong if i take my neighbor's cat?

    Can in rain
    via eart95 / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    So, a little bit of background as i feel its relevant here. Also want to apologize for any formatting issues (I'm on mobile). I, 26F, live
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 03
    with my sister, 28F, and our neighbors have several cats that live outside. Now I know that some people have outdoor cats
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  • 04
    and there are a lot of different opinons on that, but this is different. These are not just cats that are allowed outdoors and
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  • 05
    come and go from the house as freely as they please. These are cats that literally live outside, 24/7.
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  • 06
    Our upstairs neighbor, Nancy (not her real name c^), and I have been texting about the cats recently and she said that the
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  • 07
    owners rarely ever let them come inside. Not only has it been getting colder out lately, we also
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 08
    live in a very rainy area, and the past few weeks have been awful weather. One of the cats, Tabby (again, fake name, just going off
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  • 09
    descriptions), has clearly been having some sort of respiratory issue lately that I'm sure is being exacerbated by the poor weather.
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  • 10
    Nancy says that they don't take the cats in for any kind of vet care either. Essentially, they are cats
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  • 11
    that were adopted and then forced to live the life of a stray/feral cat anyways.
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  • 12
    Now onto the current issue. Recently, the neighbors also adopted a little kitten, whom my sister and I have been calling
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  • 13
    Clementine. At first I wasn't sure where she came from because we did not recognize her as one of the neighbors'. She would show
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  • 14
    up at our door every few days and I would give her treats and attention, and she'd leave on her own. I texted Nancy to ask if she
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 15
    recognized the kitten, and she informed me it belonged to the neighbors. The other day when I opened the door to greet her she
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  • 16
    just came running on inside the apartment, and initially my sister said it was fine. My sister has two cats of her own, and they were
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  • 17
    Rain
    via Mac99 / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 18
    checking out Clementine and vice versa. Clem hung around for a few hours until we were getting
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  • 19
    ready for bed, at which point my sister took her back outside. This happened once more afterwards too.
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  • 20
    Last night, it was raining pretty bad out. I was out on the deck when I saw a cat under my car. I went over to
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 21
    say hi and realized it was baby Clem. I picked her up and took her into our apartment so that she could be out of the rain, and
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  • 22
    she ended up staying in our apartment all night (rain didn't stop until the morning). She slept in my room with the door closed
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  • 23
    so that we didn't risk any conflict between Clem and our cats (they were being good with each other, but still wanted to be safe). This
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  • 24
    sweet little baby snuggled with me and purred all. Damn. Night. Come the morning, Clem is still
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  • 25
    hanging out with us, so we give her a little bit of can food. She stays until late afternoon (around
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  • 26
    4 pm), when my sister made her go back outside, because she thought the neighbors would be
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  • 27
    Heavy rain
    via Vizerskaya / Canva

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 28
    looking for her (which I sincerely doubt, honestly).
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  • 29
    My heart breaks at the thought of that sweet little baby outside in the cold and the rain 24/7, and I truly just cannot understand why
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 30
    the people next door would adopt another cat when they're already so neglectful to the ones they have (3 others excluding Clem). We have no idea how
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 31
    often they're all fed, or if they have access to clean water since I see them drinking off pools of rainwater on the deck or in my
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 32
    flower pots. They definitely don't receive vet care, and I don't even know if any of them are chipped (I doubt it) or neutered/spayed. I
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 33
    cried today when my sister made Clem go back outside (yes I'm a massive crybaby when it comes to animals, don't judge me)
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  • 34
    because the thought of her out there makes me feel actually physically nauseous. My question
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777
  • 35
    is, would I be the AH if I try to adopt Clementine as mine and turn her into an indoor cat?
    via u/crazy_cat_lady_7777

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