'STOP LETTING HIM OUT': Woman rescues the same cat 3x over the course of 2 years because her neighbors repeatedly let him escape, so she decides to keep him

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 12, 2025 10:00 PM EST

The cat may have been a Houdini, but it was largely the owners to blame.

Although accidents happen and Houdini cats can sometimes escape without provocation, house cats don't belong outside and should be protected from such a fate at all costs. Seeing a kitty fend for itself in the wild can be heartbreaking, especially if it's not your first time. When you rescue a cat in the outdoors, probably scruffy, hungry, and desperate for human contact, if the original owners come forward, it's hard for cat lovers to relinquish the feline back to them. It can be even more troublesome when the cat you've just found freezing in the bushes is the same cat you've already rescued several times before.

For the cat lover in this story, the third rescue was two-too-many and, after bonding with the cat the neighbors clearly didn't care for, she decided to keep him for herself.

Every cat should have a human home full of love, not a negligent household that leaves the back door open for the soft-footed indoor cats to escape. Read onward for the heroic, year-long rollercoaster story of a woman who refused to let a poor, hungry cat ever go without a meal again.

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  • 2 YEARS AGO, a cat lover discovered a feline in her neighborhood...

    This is a notmycat and maybe a nowmycat in one. I've been feeding a stray for months. I called a rescue and we've had a trap out for her to get used to.
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  • Today she decided she's fine with me, jumped on my lap, purred at me, rubbed on my face, and was fine being carried. So I dashed her inside and into my bathroom.
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  • She's skinny and matted and HUNGRY. The rescue is sending someone over to scan for a chip. But either way, long or short term, I was distributed another cat. That's three this year.
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  • Then, a year after she originally returned him, it happened AGAIN.

    Rescuing the same cat, again 10/24/24 Update: Guess who walked through my backyard last night? It took less time than I thought it would. And I've not been texted by his humans asking if I've seen him. It's not SUPER cold here, but it's an
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  • uncomfortable mid to high 40sF at night here. Time to rescue my cat for the last time. He cannot have put on good warming weight in the week he's been home. Update: He's going home again soon.
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  • Their son is quite attached to him. Which I get. SO STOP LETTING HIM OUT. There won't be a third time. Next time I rescue their cat, I have a new cat.
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  • This cat went home to his family last November. They were so happy to see him. I was so happy he was going home.
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  • I'd see him walk through my yard on my backyard camera and not think much of it. His route goes through my property. But I wished they'd keep him inside.
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  • A few weeks ago he meowed at my child and came out of hiding, so we fed him some treats, then said goodnight.
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  • I texted his mom to see how all was going and she said he'd run away from home again and they couldn't trap him.
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  • Tonight as I got home and started to make some food he meowed at me from outside. I went out, gave him a few treats, and he let me scoop him right up.
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  • He's spending the night in my bathroom, and I've offered to keep him. I know he has a loving family, and they will be so relieved he's ok, but I can't help but think he'll be better off here.
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  • So, CDS group, wish him luck that he either goes home and they figure this out, or they surrender him to me. He's not a good outdoor cat. He is SKINNY. He likely needs pounds put back on. Not ounces.
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  • LAST WEEK, the same cat wandered into her yard... again again.

    Cheezburger Image 10574622720
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  • ... But this time, he'd found his furrever.

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  • Rescued the same cat, again. Again.
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  • He's back. Hungry and matted. Not as skinny as last time, but skinnier than the first time. I'll weigh him tomorrow.
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  • He accepted treats last week, then came back and seemed to ask for some (he sat on my front porch and one of my cats growling at him let me know he was there). I went out of town for
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  • a few days, saw him in the backyard tonight and went out and called him. He came right to me and started eating and letting me pet him. So I brought him in.
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  • I brushed him, used scissors and a trimmer on the bigger mats, and brushed him some more. He ate a half can of food (at 180 calories in the whole can, and cats needing about 20 calories
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  • per pound, that's the equivalent of someone on a 2000 calories a day diet going into a stranger's house and eating 1000 calories while nervous. He was that hungry).
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  • He's in the bathroom chilling, and I'll brush him more tomorrow. I've gotten head butts and purrs, and he was so happy to be brushed he rolled toward the brush and rolled off of the windowsill. Luckily I caught him. LOL.
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  • pixiechik13. It's time to just keep the cat. They clearly don't know how to take care of him if he keeps not going back. 3rd time is a charm. Rename him. Then is they ask if you have seen him, you can say no & not be lying.
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  • WarmValidity ⚫ "There won't be a third time. Next time I rescue their cat, I have a new cat." Glad you got your answer.
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