Need advice about a found stray and it's "possible" family! Any advice appreciated!

(Long post, sorry!)


New years eve/day we noticed cat tracks out back of our home. We looked around but didn't see a cat at the time but the tracks led to under our shed so we figured the cat was under there. On january 3rd in the morning I had texted my husband and told him that I saw a big stripey cat outside eating a bird partly under the shed. We didnt see him for the next day or so but on Jan 5th we had put bread out for the birds and it disappeared immediately so we think the cat got it.


On Jan 6th we put food out and he ate it right away. We continued putting food out that day and he stayed outside next to our shed but ran under it whenever we walked outside. On Jan 7th (monday) we put food out twice and same thing, he ran when he saw us. On Jan 8th, I took out dry food and he ran up to me meowing. I felt bad so I took a can of wet food out also and he was so excited he just purred and rubbed against my legs and ate it immediately.


He followed me around outside and when I tried to go inside he tried to follow me. I didn't let him and felt bad because he stood by the door meowing for awhile. I went back out to pet him and he followed me inside, so I let him and put him in my guest room. We have had him here since Jan 8th and have been feeding him and spending time with him. We have posted to places to try and find his owner (and plan to take him to be scanned for a microchip this week).



We waited a couple days to post because of his behavior. He growled a bit while eating and was very skittish...we were concerned with having anyone come see him right away and stressing him out. His paws are very dry and cracked and seem sensitive so we can't really pick him up either so we just waited until he was a little more trusting of us.


Anyway I posted him a few days ago. Within hours I get a response from someone saying they think it is their cat and that their cat must have crawled under their car and fell out halfway to the city I live near because they saw their cat on the highway behind their car but by the time they got stopped to find him, he was gone.


I was a little leery...and within a short time I received an email from this mans wife saying the same thing but giving me a location their cat was lost which was approx 15-20 miles from my home. That made me even more leery of their email. I asked when their cat was lost because this cat has been around for a couple weeks and she never answered but said she was sure it was their cat. Send me pictures of their cat that are greyish/black tiger striped,....the one we found is more brown/black tiger striped. We don't think they look enough like the same cat.


I explained to her again that I live quite far from where the cat was lost, and asked again what day this was that their cat was lost, and she responds she is convinced it is their cat and they want to see it and if it isn't their cat they won't take it.


I decided to be be kind of creepy I guess, and put her email address into facebook to see what comes up...and on her profile she posted on Jan 3rd that her cat was lost from underneath their car. January 3rd is the same day that in the morning I saw the cat outside my house.



I would love to find the real owners of this cat, if they just "lost" him as opposed to dumping him (which unfortunately happens here often) however I am concerned that these people are not the owners yet believe so much that he is theirs that they might in person try to tell me he is theirs?


Do I sound crazy and rude for not believing this is the same cat? I am going to post pictures but the timeline of him being found here and when he was lost, in addition to the fact that he was lost SO far from my house, just don't seem to add up to me. I would love any advice...after seeing pictures and hearing the story can anyone tell me if I am just being crazy or if I am correct in thinking they don't look the same? I have had bad experiences on Craigslist unfortunately (two years ago a cat of mine was lost and I posted a lost ad on Craigslist and got a call from someone telling me they wanted the reward bc they found my cat but they killed it...since that happened I don't have a ton of faith in CL so I guess I am a little more leery about it than others may be) I know that maybe they will see the cat in person and realize it isn't theirs and leave it at that but I am worried that if they see it and still think it's theirs, it will turn into an awkward situation because I don't know how to convince them it is not theirs and don't know if I really have the right to decide for them that a cat they believe is theirs isnt?



Her pictures of her cat-










Pictures I have taken of the cat at my home-

That's not the same cat.  They look completely different.  I guess all you can do is tell them it's not theirs.  

It does look like he has the same markings on the nose where the stripe doesn't make it all the way down.
All of her pictures are taken with flash where as your are not; the only way to truly compare would be to take yours at similar angles with flash as well.

Also, remember if they are the owners, seeing him won't stress him out. He would be perfectly comfortable and happy to be petted. That would be the final way to know for sure.

P. S. Lots of cats have been known to travel many miles in a day to get back home so it'd be just as easy to travel in the Wrong direction and end up at your house. :dk:

Oh, just noticed they both have the exact same marking on the front right paw.

I think taking the same kinds of photos is the best way to compare and be 100% sure. :nod:

Here are two pictures I took with flash. He wouldn't leave his eyes open bc my flash is very bright.

I don't think it's the same cat, but it's hard to tell from pictures.

Their cat seems to have a fair sized black part at the bottom of its nose skin, whereas yours is pink/brown right down to the lips.

Theirs has darker classic tabby markings on its side. Yours doesn't have the well-defined black patch there.

Yours seems to have a nick out of its left ear. If they can show you a picture of their cat with the same nick then it's probably theirs. 

I wrote her back and asked again when he was lost and she now says 12/30. She also changed the location he was lost from to say that it is much closer to my house than where she said he was originally lost. I keep feeling leery about it since her information continues to change. Originally when she wrote me I said that this cat was found approx 12/31 and she acted like it wasn't possible I'd seen him so early (which is why I believe she wasn't telling me when she lost him). Even if s cat can travel long distances, is 15 miles possible in a day? In a city where it would have travelled over freeways and high speed roads to get from where it was lost to here?

Also the cat we found has a chipped fang. I haven't brought it up to her yet bc I don't know if it was chipped prior to being lost or while lost? The ear as well, I wasn't sure if it injured its ear while lost or before. This cat shows very classic signs of being outside awhile when I compare it to other strays I've found which is another reason we were originally searching for someone who'd lost a cat at least 1-2 mos ago.

Not the same cat.  Note the black on the lower part of the nose leather, where the cat you found has none.  Also the "break" in the black below the eyes, continuing down the edge of the nose.  Theirs is very dark.  Yours isn't.  I see lots of differences.  I would put her name in your spam list and refuse any more communication.
 

Is their cat microchipped?

Hard to tell with pictures, because coloring can vary depending on the light. I see some identical markings on the two cats. Mainly the long stripes leading away from the eyes.

Find out the name of their cat, then use that name to your rescued stray, and see what he does. And get him scanned for a microchip, today. You'd had him inside for almost a week now, get him scanned.

If I lost my cat I'd be out of my mind.

We are taking him tomorrow to check for a microchip. I work until 630 and our vet closes at 7 so I haven't been able to go. The first three days he was here he was pretty skittish and growled a lot so we wanted to wait a couple days. I have him posted on pet FBI and Craigslist, and we drove around our area looking for lost pet fliers and spoke with neighbors seeing if anyone has lost him.

as Minka mentioned, it is a little difficult due to the flash/no flash as well as different angles for the pics.


in the two pics that at least show the same side of the face i see enough differences in markings that i doubt it is the same cat -



and




sure doesn't look the same to me

Compare the tabby markings on the top of the head.  They are very different.  

I vote - not the same cat!  

Agreed. Not the same cat.

These are pictures of different cats.  Hoping and praying that the cat who is in your care now will find a wonderful, permanent home with loving, caring, responsible people who will keep him indoors only.  And so VERY sorry for your horrific experience in the past.

socksy said:

Compare the tabby markings on the top of the head.  They are very different.  

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was looking at/ thinking too!  I agree w/ Mike, no more communication.  Always trust your gut, it's there for a reason. We all have intuition, you just have to listen to it.

I'd say you have a new kitty.

Kitty is not microchipped. We are still searching for his owners.

The people who were emailing are still convinced he is theirs despite my sending the picture of the two faces side by side. They feel that the notch in the ear and chipped fang, as well as severely dry cracking pads on his feet, all happened when he was lost for the 1 day he would have been lost between them supposedly losing him and him making the 15 mile trek to my neighborhood.  If he looked more like the same cat maybe I would agree but I don't. I pointed out to them that the stripe at the top of the head on their cat is multiple stripes going down his forehead while the cat I have has a thick black stripe. In addition their cat is mostly black and grey, in ALL pictures they have sent while the one I have is more brown with black and slight grey.

I don't know what to tell them anymore. They hadn't written in a few days since I sent the side by side face pics so I thought they finally understood that it wasn't theirs.

But today the husband writes to tell me his wife is sick of dealing with this and they don't believe the differences in the two cats are enough to prove he isn't theirs. He says they have no interest in taking home a cat that isn't theirs but they seem dead set on believing this cat is theirs in pictures so I don't trust taking the cat to see them and them finally realizing it isn't theirs? IDK maybe I am in the wrong for that. It just feels off still. They sent yet another picture today of their child holding their cat and I had my husband hold this cat the same way and it is very very clear that the coloring is quite different. I took yet another picture so I can show them again that the markings, colorings, etc, just don't add up to it being the same cat.

We have posted fliers around our area hoping to find the real owners. If they can't be found, we will work to find someone who wants to adopt a cat.
 

This story is confusing in every way. It's very hard to tell for sure if it's the same cat from the pictures, especially with a brownish/grayish tabby cat. I have a brown tabby and if I compare certain pictures of him it doesn't always look exactly like the same cat either.

I find it odd that these people would be so insistent that he was their cat if they didn't really believe he was. What other explanation is there?  There are literally millions of tabby cats they could adopt immediately. Why would they go through all this hassle for 10 days with you if they didn't believe he was their cat? It doesn't make any sense that they would want HIM so badly if they didn't think he was theirs.

What's the harm in meeting at a public place to let them have a look at him? Surely a pet owner would know face to face if he is their pet.

I understand there are people out there who are un-kind to animals. Maybe that is what you are worried about. If this was the case here I wouldn't understand why they want THIS cat specifically. I don't think abusers are picky.

If - and I'm not saying you should - you wanted to meet them in a safe place so they could finally be convinced he's not their cat, I would propose your vet clinic.   That way if they get out of line there will be plenty of people to stop them from just trying to grab the cat and run.   You'll be able to see if he responds to them.    Still I don't think it is the same cat.   Yet I think the grief and loss of losing a cat can make a person kind of crazy and maybe they need the closure of being really sure he's not theirs.   Still you gotta do what feels right to you and safe for all concerned.