Neighbor Took My Cat

If you have an outdoor cat that does not have a collar and this cat goes for walk in the neighborhood your neighbors may think the cat is a stray and if your cat likes visiting your neighbor, snacking at their food bowl, lying on their porch they may take your cat, assuming it is a stray.

My cat is social, she has her outdoor routine which is primarily hanging out in our yard and gardens but she does go to visit a few neighbors. Normally she is gone about an hour but today she was gone for 12 hours and I was worried and searching for her.

At first, I thought she was upset with me because when I left the yard to go into the woods she meowed in protest. I knew my husband was going to be able to console her and groom her in less than an hour. I had to go to the woods and the chance of her following me was low because it is not something that she does. She does protest whenever I leave the yard but gives up and goes to sit on the patio furniture so I did not worry about her. 

I got back from my errand about noon and saw that my cat was not in the yard. My husband said he had not seen her and this is not like her to be gone that long. We were worried, we searched for her by looking in all her kitty spots, called her, walked around the block to her favorite spots. None of my neighbors saw her.

A photo card of my cat in the garden

My cat was gone without a trace.

My husband said he would sit out on the patio and wait for her to come home. We did not want to go to bed without her being home because we must lock the cat house at night due to the wildlife.

When she was gone for ten hours I thought she must have been taken or killed. These thoughts go through your head because there are so many people in the world that abuse animals. Two hours later I went outdoors and called her name again and I hear her calling out in the distance. She is running through my neighbor's yard and she leaps into my arms. My cat is home she is safe and she is groomed! She is one fluffy cat that smells like she had a bath.

I think it is really bizarre that a neighbor would take my cat and groom by giving it a bath and brushing.   No doubt they wanted to keep her because her collar with a tag is missing. Lucky for us that my cat was smart enough to run out through an open door. I do not know where my cat went, if she was picked up by a neighbor or if she visited a neighbor and they took her inside their house. 

Know that my cat has a collar, name tag and a microchip so I think that people should respect that. The only time you would take a cat in is if seems lost hangs out at your house and never goes home is a good sign that somebody may have moved and left their cat behind or the cat is lost. A cat that is abandoned or lost is a reason to take an animal into your home, but as soon as you are able you must check for a microchip and place a classified ad in your local newspaper to report the lost cat and make every attempt to find its owner.