I had a cat nearly 3 years ago, male called jasper. He was mine and my partners 1st baby.

After we got him we got another cat who Jasper accepted and then a dog who he accepted and then another cat.

At this point he started going out more and not coming back, not that we stopped giving him any less attention. We posted pictures round the streets and leaflets through letter boxes. For weeks I walked round the streets calling him.

That was about 18 months ago. In October last year I saw him in the street and called him, he wouldnt even come to me, I eventually caught him and brought him home but after a few days he hadnt settled so I let him out again. He again never came back.

Then I saw him (or what I was sure was him) in November, well fed, his fur looked glossy and he seemed happy enough. He had our collar on still (or the exact same one) but not his tag. Then a little boy came out of a house a told me to stop touching his cat, Barney! who he said he had had since he was a kitten.

I was so upset, I was even doubting whether it was Jasper or not, my partner said if it is jasper he seems happy enough so just leave him and if it isnt then wherever jasper is he will be happy.

Anyway we went home and eventually I stopped worrying.

For some reason recently I cant stop thinking about him.
I miss him dearly.

I sometimes just think about going to that house and asking an adult about him or demanding that the cat to be microchipped scanned to see if he is ours.

But then I think well if it is him he is happy.

Please dont think im awful for not knowing whether he is mine, 18 months is along time and although I have pictures he looked slightly fatter than our jasper did.

What shall I do?

Sorry this was so long.

Silly question but it may just be Jaspers doppleganger.

doppleganger? I dont get that?

Do you mean double? If it is and its not him i still wonder if there is anything I could do to find him again this late on x

If your cat was chipped, and this family have 'adopted' him, they've already misled you. If you really want to, you can catch him again, and take him to your vets to be scanned, then if he is yours, take him back to the family who have adopted him and offer to have his chip updated

If it's Jasper, he's happy where he is, so leave him be.... but it sounds like you need your mind putting at rest :(

I thought the rule with cats is that they own you ,not you own the cat.
If he is Jasper he sounds happy where he is, and the little boy likes him.
I lost my little cat Digby, I hope he is happy somwhere and not dead. Good luck with any decision you make.

Kit the Kat has adopted three families on my street, I see him about twice a week. I know that hes tucking into some tasty treats somewhere else when hes out.

If your cat was chipped, and this family have 'adopted' him, they've already misled you. If you really want to, you can catch him again, and take him to your vets to be scanned, then if he is yours, take him back to the family who have adopted him and offer to have his chip updated

If it's Jasper, he's happy where he is, so leave him be.... but it sounds like you need your mind putting at rest :(

i would agree with this, my charlie went "missing" for a few months after i got more animals and one day came back, it was just before i moved to Glasgow. I moved up there and kept him in then started lettin him out. After a few weeks he went "missing" and i have not seen him since March 2006! I do not think anything has happened to him, i feel he has a new home. If i were to see him it would make me feel better knowing he is really ok but i would leave him be. Cats can never really be owned anyway as they are way too independant..

Just be happy knowing he is with a loving family:)

I have the same problem as you TattyBear but not to the extent that you do! My cat spends a lot of time outside and a few months ago we started seeing him less and less. He stopped coming in on evenings and wasn't eating at home. I think we went about 10 days without seeing him at all but we didn't worry too much as he can look after himself perfectly well.

Anyway, to cut a long story short we found out that he had been living at an old womans house across the street who was in all the time - so suddenly he had decided he wanted to be a house cat and in all the time! I was upset at first that my cat had been 'stolen' by this old woman. But I thought about it from his point of view that maybe she had offered him food and shelter and cuddles when he had been out and we were not in and he had decided he liked it. It still annoys me a bit that he spends a lot of time there and is not solely our cat anymore but at least he is happy and healthy and he now visits home about 4 evenings a week.

I think that the old woman still realises that he is our cat though as his collar and tag have not been removed. If the cat you saw is Jasper I would be content knowing that he is happy and obviously loved.

Well I am sorry but I would be furious if someone stole my cat :o I used to have a problem at my old house when my neighbour decided to encourage my cats in her house and started to feed them. I told her that they were on a special diet and that they would become ill if not fed the correct food. That soon stopped her :rant:

I can appreciate that you believe if it is your cat, then he is happy, but I would want to know for sure. If I were in your situation then I would go and speak politely to the family concerned and explain, telling them you are happy for him to stay with them, if that is the case? but you want to have him scanned to put your mind at rest that Jasper is still alive and well

Well I am sorry but I would be furious if someone stole my cat :o I agree! I would go psycho at the person if they dared! :suspect: Seriously, my cats are my babies and I would certainly speak to those people and tell them I wanted to get the chip checked. If they said no, I would steal kittie.... and probably end up apologising profusely when I was wrong...! :hihi: But it would be worth it to put your mind at rest. When one of my kitties went walkabout for just a week we were beside ourselves.

I'd be pretty annoyed too- but that doesn't solve the issue of what to do now that he obviously believes his home is with someone else.

I used to have a part timer who visited all sorts of people- one day i opened the door to let a stream of furries in for dinner, and it wasn't until I put the bowls down that I noticed that I had one bowl too few. Actually I had the right number of bowls, but one extra cat.

So I did a head count. Ginger one- check. Black one- check. Grey one- check. Oh look, I've got too many black and white ones.

I rang the number on his collar to check where he'd come from, and found that he lived in the next street but he'd been missing since his owner went away for the weekend a couple of weeks before, although it was strange, his owner said, that he turned up at her place 5 years before, when his previous owner had gone away overnight on business.

I refused to feed him and put him in a box, and took him home. The following day, he turned up again, and again, and again. After a while he stopped going home at all- and moved in with another neighbour in our street that he was visiting all the time he was visiting me and asking for another dinner from there too.

He died last year, at the grand old age of 18 (at least), having had at least 4 names and homes that I knew of.

Some cats just aren't one-person animals. We just have to find a way of dealing with it.

I don't think cats are made to have one owner. My nan's cat smudge dissapeared one day, and never came back. He was chipped though, and one day a couple of years ago (after he'd been gone 5 years) I was visiting a friend and saw him sat on their sofa. He was 7 then, and he's nine now, but he has a new home (he's now a permenant house cat) and he was with them all those years!

If someone stole my pet though I'd be furious. You dont see that with dogs do you? Or buns! :hihi: peanut would bite anyone else who tried to feed him :hihi:

I would just like to know if he is mine thats all, and then if he is happy there fair enough.

I have just told my partner and he doesnt seem to care.

I dont know what upsets me more.

Looks like I will be going round on my own. :(

My Nelson disappeared four times and each time turned up at the same house. In the end, I let them keep him, although it did not look as though I had much choice in the matter. I had four other cats and they had none and the child of the house thought he was the bees knees!

It is hard when you don't know though - I can sympathise with you, but I don't know what the answer is.

well, i have this story the other way around, heres what i posted in another thread

We found her lost when she was only a few months old, and looked after her until we returned her to her 'owners'. and about 5 years later, there she is, sitting on our door step, she didnt come in, but was always around our garden. And of course, we played with her, and then one winters evening we opened the door and she bolted in, after that she adopted us, and only went to her 'owners' for food.
At the start we kicked her out at night, because she wsnt our cat, but eventualy she wouldent leave - so we put a flap in for a cat that wasnt even ours!
Then her owners came over one night, and said, 'We are moving house in 2 days, do you want to keep her?', and my heart hit the floor because i thought they would say no, but they said yes!!
so we gained a cat!
Me and her where the best of friends, she was really protective of me, and followed me everywhere - sometimes down the road to the bus stop - she never tried to get on! she never really liked being stroked, but had to sit on my knee or next to me.
she was a wonderfull little kitty!

but we never encouraged her to stay, she just did on her own.