‘Then when she realized it was me, she practically leapt into my arms. I’ve given her two cans of food... but she’s home.’: The story of a confused cat who misunderstood the concept of running away from home, and was found in bush right outside her house

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Nov 23, 2025 3:00 PM EST

Cat children, for all their dexterity, agility, and finesse, just cannot quite keep up when it comes to their mental faculties. Making them highly susceptible to their intrusive thoughts, and even more so to spontaneously turning off their brains and letting the chips fall where they may. And that is certainly what happened to the silly cat child in this story who decided that making a break for the outside world after being a lifelong indoor cat was a good idea.

Of course, it turned out to be a terrible idea and resulted in a whole lot of mess and mayhem. But perhaps the silliest thing of all is that the cat was found mere meters from its home hiding in a bush. Yes, that is right, the fierce predator, slayer of mice, monster to birds, was found cowering in vegetation hiding from the world just outside its home. Honestly, bless their silly little hearts. 

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  • 01
    Late Monday night, after I had already gone to sleep, my fiancée opened our front door to bring in some things from her car. My year- and-half old indoor cat slipped out without her even noticing. I went to feed her and my
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    second cat the next morning, but she was nowhere to be found. It was very unlike her to miss any kind of feeding. I immediately knew something was up. I woke up my fiancée, and started tearing apart my
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    apartment. She wasn't in any of her normal hiding places. We then started searching throughout our giant apartment complex. We have been searching ever since.
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  • 04
    Since she went missing we have bought three humane cat traps, bought a live feed camera for the front door, have put food out, and have searched periodically throughout the day and the entire night.
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  • 05
    Nothing has worked. We have caught three cats, and have attracted eleven to our door with food. Not a single one has been mine. Ever since I got this cat, her and I have been inseparable. She follows me
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  • Well, this is a rather unique, albeit heartbreaking beginning to a story. Losing your cat child is simply something that no one wants to go through, but to have several cats fall into the traps intended for your cat child is kinda of unreal. Almost as though something got messed up with the Cat Distribution System, and it started firing out cats en masse.

  • 06
    everywhere, sleeps with me every night, and laughably spilled scorching hot coffee all over me and my equipment a week into working from home during quarantine. This was after she got way too excited for pets. Simply put, I have
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    orange cat sitting on a wooden path in a forest
    via CStock 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.

  • 08
    never had such a strong connection with an animal. I am beyond discouraged I am at a point of devastation. - Normally, I am not an emotional person at all. Before the purchase of these
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    two cats (we bought her and her brother at the same time as a bonded pair) I was never even a cat person. Now I can't eat, I have barely slept (maybe four hours in the past three days), and nothing I have done
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    has made any difference. I'm trying to stay strong for my fiancée, but I'm growing more and more pessimistic with each passing day and each unsuccessful search.
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    It is a feeling of hopelessness I've never experienced. Like I said, I apologize for this d of a post, but I just needed to get this out.
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  • Honestly, our hearts go out to these poor pawrents who so desperately want their cat child to come home. Thankfully, we already know that this story has a happy ending, but what we cannot get our heads around is how and why this cat child ran away in the first place. And if she was so close to home, why didn’t she just come home? Was she just being a diva?
     

  • 12
    There has been a big development in reuniting with my cat. Last night, at 3:28am, my cat appeared on my live motion sensitive camera, curiously sniffing her litter box. This is the first
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    time I had seen her in five days. Side note: The day previously, maintenance in our apartment complex had told us that we needed to take our humane traps away, as apparently it is against their policy.
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    My fiancée and I may or may not have bribed them to keep the traps near our apartment over the weekend when management goes home. Anyways, she moved from the litter box to
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    the trap and put one foot in. At the most inconvenient time possible, she was spooked by a car and ran off. I was awoken by the motion detector and went outside about five minutes after she ran away. I
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    tabby cat walking throguh autumn leaves
    via Annabell Gsödl via Adobe Stock

    <!--td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}-->Disclaimer: This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

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    searched for an hour, but eventually decided I may be spooking her and went inside. It seems that she knows her way home, but is just working up the courage.
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  • 18
    This has breathed new life into me. I posted a couple of days ago at my lowest point. I felt hopeless. If I'm being honest, deep down I thought she was lost forever.
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  • 19
    Now I'm extremely confident that I will get my baby home. Just seeing her alive made me burst into tears. For context, I have not shed tears in over five years. She's alive. She's close. I know she will be home soon.
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  • 20
    I FOUND HER!!!! I've been trying to post a picture, but for some reason it won't load. This is one of the happiest moments I've ever experienced. She was in a bush about 100 yards
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    away. At first when I approached, she was scared. Then when she realized it was me, she practically leapt into my arms. I've given her two cans of food, and she absolutely stinks to the high heavens,
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    but she's home. A 10,000 pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Thank you Reddit for keeping me sane during this difficult time.
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cat found house arms reddit story misunderstood cat story confused home concept leap running away bush
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