Kitten stolen by animal hoarder while walking outside with pawrent, gets returned after cat dad confronted the cat thief, dad says: ‘I will definitely make sure to keep the doors closed at all times.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Mar 7, 2026 3:00 PM EST

If you thought that your kitten would be safe while within a radius of a few feet from you, then this story will unfortunately change your mind. Thankfully this pawrent did not stand for it, and pulled off a triumphant rescue.

It is a harrowing way to begin our story, but that is the way of some cat stories, they start with tragedy and come to a close with comfort and cuddles. Some might say it is due to the nature of cats, they have no middle ground, it is dark or light, happy or sad. But whatever the reason their stories end up being so serious they do make for some high intensity reading that is for sure.

And so we are proud to present you with the story of a cat dad who has a complicated familial connection to cats, a bond that very few of us could ever understand, who is faced with the theft of his very own kitten. But being so connected to cats, his approach to bringing his fur baby home was one that did not take any handouts, it was one fueled by rage and the intense need to bring his cat home in only the way a dad can. 
 

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  • 01
    "I'm grateful to my friends that help me to get my cat back."
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    Just some info. I live alone, but my gf has beer hinting for quite a while she wanted one. I absolutely adore cats! They bring back wonderful memories of my mother, who passed away when I was 10. My mom was absolutely the most kind hearted,
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  • 03
    beautiful woman I have ever known and despite it being over 28 years that she dd, in 1992, not a day goes by that I don't think about her and miss her. She adored cats. So I've always had a passion for them as well because while it may sound silly, having a cat is a way for
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    me to keep her memory and spirit alive. I know it's something that if she were alive today, she would absolutely have one. I lost my last cat to cancer over 10 years ago. The vet said that even with surgery, she likely
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    wouldn't live. After so much heartache and tears, I swore that I would never adopt another because losing them is so hard and no matter what, it always brought back the sadness I felt during those first few months after my mom's death.
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    Co 5
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    So last week my gf, who has her own cleaning service, went to a house that had kittens they were giving away for adoption. After a few texts and pictures, I finally relented and agreed. I was terrified the kitten wouldn't accept me or whatever. I think it's a safe bet now
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    though, I've been adopted by her... And I am over the moon! So this one is for you mom. We go to the vet tomorrow for her shots and such. But I haven't come up with a good name. I would guess she's about 3-4 months old. So
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  • Well, this is certainly a first for us but with cats being the spiritually connected creatures that they are it is not all too surprising to come to terms with this man’s connection to his mother through felines. Though we were rather surprised that his first doubt would be whether the kitten would take to him. Sure, it shows that he has a truly gentle and caring soul, if a little bit insecure. But in what world would a kitten who you feed, play with and dote on, not take to you? Certainly not this world, and this kitten truly could not have found a better feline father.   
     

  • 09
    definitely looking for some suggestions about names. I literally just made a post yesterday about how excited I was about having a brand new kitten
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    Cheezburger Image 10607630080
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    after deciding a decade ago that I would never have another one. But after my girlfriend brought one last week I fell in love all over again. About 3 hours ago | opened the door to carry the trash outside and
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    apparently I neglected to close the door completely. As I was walking back inside I noticed that she had walked out onto the porch and was making her way down the steps. So I gently started calling her and was doing the
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    baby talk and when I got about 5 ft from her she started walking off towards the road. I was walking behind her, still not really afraid. I was just concerned about picking her up. And as she made it to the road, I was about 10 yd behind
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  • Oh goodness, we do not have the stomach for tense moments like this, and much to our misfortune we know what is coming next. Though with that in mind we do find ourselves thankful that what comes next does not involve a road collision as it very well could have. Not that it makes the theft of this poor defenseless kitten any easier to stomach. It is painfully shocking to hear time and again about people doing irresponsible things to cats. As though these are not animals with souls that contain wants and needs of their own. 
     

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    her. A car stopped right at her and the passenger side door opened and a 40 to 50 year old woman stepped out picked her up and I immediately yelled out thank you so much. But before I know it the lady had my brand new kitten in her van and was driving off.
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    I was in absolute shock. Initially I thought she may be turning around to bring her back but the van kept going. By the time I realized what was going on, the van was too far away for me to get any kind of license plate. Currently I do not have a
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    vehicle so I had no way to initiate any type of chase. I immediately broke down and was a combination of crying my eyes out and playing out a scene from John wick and prepared to go hunt them down. Unfortunately I would not. know where to begin. I
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    am a 38 year old man and I am absolutely and emotional wreck right now. I don't know what to do. I notified the police department but they made it abundantly clear that this was very low priority and they would
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    send someone over at their first available chance but that more than likely there's nothing that they can do. I don't have any cameras or anything to identify the kidnappers. All I have is a vehicle description. I was so worried that my girlfriend was going to be angry
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    Cheezburger Image 10607630336
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    but she seems to be more concerned with my well- being than anything. She really is my rock. What is wrong with people? Why would you do this? They absolutely saw me and knew that the kitten was mine and that I was walking after her. I
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    never meant for her to get outside. It was a mistake. But I can't help but beat myself up because if I had only taken two more seconds to make sure the door was closed this wouldn't have happened. So now I'm lying in this bedroom all by myself wondering
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    where my kitten is. She must be so confused. She must be so scared. One reason my girlfriend did get the kitten for me was because I recently reached 18 months of sobriety from a 20-year pain pla somewhat of a . It was
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  • 23
    congratulations gift. And I loved that cat so much. I literally only knew her for a week and I feel like my heart has been ripped from my chest. So hold your cats close tonight. Because some of us will be going to sleep with a hole in our heart.
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    First of all, thank you all so much for your support and for the many many suggestions on things that I could do to help locate her. So first thing I did was contact the police which I believe I mentioned in my original post. They were absolutely no help. The
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    dispatcher originally told me that a deputy would be by to take a report, however it was low priority it and may be the following day before anyone would come by. Needless to say, I never received a phone call or visit from my local sheriff's office. Can't say
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    I'm that I'm really surprised. Next I contacted a friend who is pretty active on several social media sites and asked him to post whatever he could about the incident and not to mention any type of reward but to include
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    details of when and where it happened and the description of the vehicle and woman that I saw. I was not really hopeful that we would see any results, but doing nothing wasn't going to Bear any fruit either so this was better than nothing.
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    About 8:00 this morning my buddy calls me basically screaming into the phone that he thinks he's found my cat. Someone recognize the post on his Facebook and recognize that someone fitting that description had also recently posted a picture of their new kitten
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    Cheezburger Image 10607630848
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    that they had adopted. When he sent me the picture of the kitten that this mysterious person had posted, it was my kitten! Oh my God F I have never been so happy but so furious at the same time. So as mentioned before, I don't. have a vehicle right now,
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    so my friend who put the post up came and pick me up and through some networking and subscriptions to records websites we managed to get the address of the woman that posted the picture of her new kitten. As we pulled up I began
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  • 32
    to cry. The house was dreadful. I'm talking chickens and roosters in the yard cats and dogs, in the back there was a small pen with a couple of goats, there was a mule that was extremely emaciated. There were just abandoned children toys everywhere, tires that
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    were stacked up everywhere, a lot of those 55 gallon barrel drums here and there, and to top it off, despite the poor condition of the mobile home, they still had Christmas lights up that were flashing at 11:00 a.m in the morning. And these weren't the
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  • 34
    tiny lights, they were the big bulbs like you see in the Lampoon's Christmas movie. I pulled myself together and my buddy and I walked up to the door and this woman answered it holding my f She was holding my cat.
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    f cat. And she looked at us as if she was thinking, what do you want? I politely looked for dd in her eyes and said ma'am I recognize you from yesterday when you picked up the cat that you have in your hands from in front of my yard as I was yelling at you and
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    before I could catch you you drove off. She initially tried to give some song and dance about I was mistaken but think that she could see the rage and the tears in my eyes and finally said that she thought the cat was abandoned and was trying to give her a good
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    home. She handed the cat over and profusely apologized and my buddy and I just simply walked away. I wanted to say so many other things to her but at the end of the day my goal was accomplished. The only other thing that I
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  • 38
    did turn around and ask was, how many children live here? She looked confused and asked me why I was asking. I made up an excuse that I knew where some other kittens were if she was interested if she had children that may want another one. That's when she told me
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    she had three children between the ages of two and eight that lived with her. I thank her again and told her that I would check around to see if I could find any others for her and would be glad to send them her way if I
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  • 41
    could find any. My buddy and I got in the car and proceeded to haul out of there. Before we can make it to the stop sign I was already googling the number for child protective services for my county. The condition of this house, the condition of the woman, and the
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    overall smell of ammonia that came from inside the house was absolutely rancid. Frankly I don't give a s about that woman but I do care about the fact that children are in that situation.
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    So that's my story. I appreciate everyone who had good things to say and gave me great ideas. I'm grateful to my friends that help me to get my cat back. I gave her a good bath once we got home still have her vet appointment in 2 weeks to get spayed and
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  • 44
    chipped. I don't think that anything could have happened to her in a negative way in those two missing days, but I am glad that she had just been wormed. So my lesson has been learned. I will definitely make sure to keep the doors closed at all times. I just hope
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    that those children in that house can find a safe atmosphere as well.
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