Compassionate cat lover emboldened to catnap the sweet outdoor kitty near their apartment despite warnings from the neighbor: 'To me, a cat with no collar on the street is a stray'

Author image for Jesse Kessenheimer
Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 31, 2026 9:00 AM EDT

See a cat, save a cat. 

Cat lovers see felines outside all the time, but oftentimes the jingle of a bell or the colorful glimpse of a kitty collar deters them from kissing that cat on the forehead on site and taking them home in a satchel. It takes everything in a cat lover's willpower to leave an outdoor kitten in their wake, even if they know the cat has a loving home awaiting their return. But when a cat seems like they're being left out in the cold (literally), the intrusive thoughts creep in. 

Purrhaps this cat needs a new pawrent, one that loves them to the mew'n and back. 

There's a reason that the Cat Distribution System seems to target the cat loving community with the lowest inhibitions. Cat lovers can't be expected to be rational when it comes to outdoor cats, because when a kitty repeatedly visits your window, meows on your fence, and slurps up the water left in the bowl for them outside, it really makes you wonder if they're getting the love and affection they deserve from their home base. 

This cat lover's better judgement took over after watching the comings and goings of the apartment complex's outdoor cat for several months. Over the course of the winter, and after constructing a well-inhabited outdoor kitty box on their balcony, this neighbor decided that the sweet, outdoor cat in their complex deserved better than their technical owner's care. Sure, they had a human being who brought them into this neighborhood, but this cat lover was determined to bring them out of the cold and into a warm, loving home.

Even if that meant staging a well-calculated catnapping. 

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  • Is it ethical to take someone's cat?

    Okay now that title sounds terrible, right? But hear me out..... I live near a handful of apartment complexes thats right off a fairly busy street, like you
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  • open my door and the road is right there. It's also a low income housing area so people are constantly moving in and out. A
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  • few months ago before winter started, a new cat started coming around. He was clearly a young kitten and newly adopted. We have a
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  • water bowl on our porch for the critters who come by, and he'd always come over and go straight for the water. He'd come over frequently
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  • You probably didn't know this, but cats are actually considered an invasive species on all 7 continents, but this pawrticular kitty wasn't invading anyone's space; in fact, he was begging for a neighborly hooman to take him in. 

    Cats aren't meant to be left outside in the cold. Despite their natural ability to survive and their predatory instincts, cats are really just loveable goofballs who want to cuddle in the sunshine of the windowsill, eat the potted plants by the bookshelf, and curl up in the coziness of the hooman's soft blankets. While they may be equipped for the world outside, those delicate little toe beans were meant to be indoors. 

  • throughout the winter when it was below 20°f and snowing just trembling on our porch looking inside. I made him a heat box
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  • with a low temp heating pad, insulated foam, and straw. I asked on a local page to try and find an owner as he just keeps coming back
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  • and our three cats go crazy seeing him! The owners reached out to say he is an outdoor only cat and basically told me to mind my business.
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  • This cat comes by every day and drinks water like he has never been given any before, for a solid 10 minutes before he
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  • lays down and always goes back for the water before he leaves. He is so small. He loves being loved on and pet but you I can feel all of his ribs.
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  • He has long fur that is filthy and matted, especially between his toes. He's also unneutered, and I can only assume
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  • unva inated from that too. He sprays everything that possibly smells like our cats which isn't his fault but still. He'll also just walk into our
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  • house when the door is open like it's his own until he gets chased out by one of our cats.
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  • I'm thinking of keeping this cat or finding someone who can take him in. I've offered to pay for his neuter but the owners said no. Would it be
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  • wrong of me to catnap him? To me, a cat with no collar and unneutered on the street is a stray.... and he clearly isn't
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  • getting his needs met at home. But I feel guilty knowing he is technically "owned."
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  • XTasty09 Having an 'Outdoor only' cat in an area where it gets below freezing, means you don't have a cat.
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  • LitheFider. How can they say they own him when they literally don't seem to be doing anything for him?? I would just take him in, the people will probably just think he ran off and won't care.
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  • Hazelnut R... Please take him in! He's so handsome and he clearly wants to be yours!
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  • YogurtclosetV... "Would it be wrong of me to catnap him? " No. First thing to do is get him vetted and chipped. Poor fellow he is a cutie
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  • osogood It is not unethical to feed, water or house a starving neglected cat.
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  • Radiant8763 Looks like a stray cat to me. Establish the poor baby with vet visits and you will have a claim of ownership if the owners decide to fight about it.
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