Cat tricks sitter and escapes while mom out of town, leading to a 4 day search only for the cat to be caught outside owners home by neighbor, cat mom says: ‘She looked out her window and saw him sitting in front of my door just yelling his head off.’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Mar 11, 2026 3:00 PM EDT

You might have thought that there is no way a cat can outsmart a hooman who has been warned of their trickery. But as you'll come to find in this story, all it takes is a short lapse in concentration for the cat to get their way.

They are incredibly crafty in this way our cats are. They do it with almost everything. Most notably with food, especially when there are two hoomans involved it is not unheard of for a cat to try and convince both hoomans to feed them even if they have already been fed by one of them. And just as in this story, all it takes is a moment of lapsed concentration for a cat to get what they want. But that does not excuse the person who was being paid to concentrate from being held responsible for ensuring the cat would not get the better of them.

But that is just the way that the cookie crumbled in this story and it is a stark reminder to us all to be ultra vigilant when looking after cats that are not your own. They are such a crafty bunch that you truly cannot know how they are going to try and get the better of you. 
 

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  • 01
    "I spent those days without him terrified I'd never see him again."
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    my cat sitter let barleycat escape while i was out of town. i warned her that he's very light on his feet and
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    may follow her down the stairs when she tries to leave. well he got out, and she didn't notice till she came back to feed him and
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    my other kitty again that he wasn't there. i arrived home the next day and she teamed up with
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    me and another cat sitter to find him. she made flyers, the other cat sitter set a trap, and we walked around
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    42LB SLUMPING CAT LITTER WIN ACTIVATED CHARCOAL Fresh Step TRIPLE ACTION WRIST FORMULA 42LB 10 DAYS ODOR CONTROL ARANTEED Fresh Step TRIPLE ACTION
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  • Man this is so frustrating to hear that yet again a cat sitter has failed to do the one thing that they needed to do. It is not a tough assignment, sure some cats can be rather sneaky. But if you are paying attention, and focused on ensuring that no cat crosses your path as you leave the house, then there is a good chance that they will stay within the confines of their home. But the moment your attention shifts, that is when they strike. Much like this naughty cat child did, taking advantage of their sitter proverbially sleeping on the job. 

  • 07
    for hours that evening distributing flyers and looking for him. over the next few days i checked the
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    trap relentlessly. a couple neighbourhood cats got caught in it, but no barleycat. i let my neighbours
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    know, and gave my downstairs neighbours some food and a dish in case they found him. then 4 days later i had just
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    arrived at work when my downstairs neighbour called and said "i think i have your cat." he
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    sent a pic, and that was barley! another neighbour who i hadn't met before was holding him. i rushed home.
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  • 12
    they put him in bathroom their and fed him while i was driving. i couldn't believe it when i saw him again. he was
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  • Wow, that is a truly impressive rescue story. neighbors are not all that bothered with each other usually, especially ones that have not met one another and so it is rather delightful to see that they would put themselves out to help a fellow neighbor like this. And what a relief for this cat mom, it can be terrifying when your cat child suddenly disappears because cats can get quite far on their own if they so choose to. Making the search radius almost impossible to maintain. But sometimes the universe looks down upon us with kindness, as it did in this case. 

  • 13
    skinny, but he climbed right into my arms and snuggled me. i put him upstairs in my apartment and unfortunately
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    Cheezburger Image 10608116224
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    had to go back to work, but knowing he was home safe lit me up with a thrill i thought i'd never know again.
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  • 16
    a few days later i finally tracked down the neighbour who found him so i could give her the reward money. she
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    lived across the courtyard. she said she heard meowing and she looked out her window and saw him sitting in front
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    of my door just yelling his head off. she went outside and picked him up and said "are you barley? i think you're barley." then
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    Cheezburger Image 10608116992
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    she walked over to a nearby posted flyer to confirm. she knocked on my downstairs neighbour's
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    door since i wasn't there, and they took him in for an hour while i rushed home. i spent those days without
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  • 22
    him terrified i'd never see him again. to her credit, my cat sitter did own up to her mistake and was fairly proactive about
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    finding him, though not as proactive as i would've liked. she paid the reward money. little barley passed away
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  • 24
    recently from ly.... ma, but i've always been grateful that i got him back at all. my time with him was just far too short. i still
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  • 25
    wish i could have those 4 days of losing him back.
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town search neighbors out of office escape cat mom caught in the act reddit story outside cat story cat owners mom Cats home trick cat sitting
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