to recognise a cat I 'lost' over a year ago and accuse the 'owners' of being lying bastards!

You can't prove it, you could be wrong (you're probably right) but the new owners may have rescued him after you moved? After the posters had gone?

I'd be very careful about calling them liars. I know lots of cats that are only one colour and have an elegant demeanor, and who are friendly.

I'd be pissed off, but put it down to experience. Cats wander, if they're not chipped they may wander for good, find themselves a new home etc., you were unlucky though and YANBU to feel bitter and sad.

Unless you have concrete proof, you probably shouldn't say anything.

If they are lying, they already know that you know, and probably feel suitably shit already. If they don't, nothing you say is going to change them into decent people with an conscience (sp!)

I know people who have fed cats and so lured them away from their real owners, knowing or at least suspecting full well they were not strays. It happened to me as a child and my MIL has done it several times, including 2 kittens from a neighbouring house. She rationalises it to herself that the cats are not well-cared for then over-feeds them until they are obese.

Since you can't prove it's your cat, and you can't prove they are lying about getting it from a rescue centre, and you don't want it back, there's not much to be gained from telling them they are lying, IMO. I doubt they will ever admit it, even if it's true.

I think you just have to let it go, its your word against theirs and you might be wrong

what if they can produce evidence of the rehoming? might just be one from the same litter as yours?

You don't want the cat back, so do you really want to take this path?
You have no proof that he's yours, because he isn't microchipped. If they got him from a rescue centre, he may well be chipped with their details.
Even if he is the cat formally known as yours, they can deny it.
He is well looked-after, and if he was yours once, you know he's happy and not fox poo.

yes. you don't know they are lying. You believe they are lying, which is a different thing.

They possibly sounded defensive - or worried - by you phoning up, maybe they thought you would demand the cat back.

Perhaps they don't remember exactly when they got the cat - there could possibly also be a small chance it is a different cat that took a shine to you for some reason.

You know that he is safe, you say you don't want him back, there is nothing to be gained by telling them you 'know' they are lying. Especially when you don't.

If you wanted to say anything, then you could tell them how good it is to know that he's ok, how grateful you are to FINALLY know what happened to him, because you worried for so long, you cried, the kids cried, you searched for him for ages, you leafleted the whole area etc etc

Big dose of passive aggressive shit should sort you right out

I don't think you should say anything. YANBU to be really pissed off and upset but as you say you don't want to uproot the cat and have him back and you don't have 100% prof=of that they are in fact cat rustlers. As annoying as it is I would keep quiet. Not much of a consolation but at least he is still alive and kicking.

The trouble is, no one really owns cats anyway, AFAIK.

I guess I'd have to have seen their panic stricken faces or heard the tone to know! Well they probably already think you're a little crazy so ring them back, shout 'catstealer!' and put it behind you.

Does the cat look well looked after? If so I think its a happier ending than all the things you worried about, and the cat won't much care, even if it was pleased to see you.

How big was the difference between when they said they got him from the resuce shelter and the date you lost him? Could they just have the dates mixed up and they DO have your cat BUT got him from an animal shelter that he might have been taken to as a lost cat (some cats wrench their collars off)?

If you're right though, I'd be so upset and angry and have a hard time not saying anything. Who just keeps somebody else's collared cat?! Especially if they are seeing posters around the area.

In reality though it's probably not worth saying anything, you have no proof and it could cause problems for your children at school

Awful situation though, really feel for you.

Will you/have you got a new cat?

Get one from the Cat's Protection League and they'll neuter and chip for a donation

Cats'

thinking about it, say someone got your cats twin at the same time you got him as a kitten, and could not cope, or for whatever reason changed their mind, its more than possible that kitten was rehomed before yours was 6 months old and went missing

and they WOULD get defensive, wouldn't they, some nutter woman ringing up and accusing them of having her cat LOL

The thing is I don't see how you can be sure especially as being a one colour cat he doesn't sound very distinctive. A cat of mine went missing once and then a year later I thought I found him in a cat shelter - right colours, same markings, seemed very pleased to see me. I told them it was my long lost cat, but it was a girl not a boy.

I'm sorry you lost your cat but this one probably isn't the same one.

you sound a bit bunny boilerish OP :)

Yabu.

It's a bit odd that you feel the need to follow up with this given that you've already said you don't want the cat back. Surely you should just be happy that its looked after and healthy and move on from the situation. Otherwise it seems you'll be causing grief for yourself and the other family for no apparent reason, especially as even if the cat was 'stolen' it wasn't necessarily done by the new owners.

Did the cat look like it wanted to come and live with you?

We need a test.

Stand at either ends of a long corridor or path.

Put cat in middle.

Whoever cat goes to can keep cat.

If cat fucks off sideways, cat clearly isn't that bothered about either of you.

I don't know really if YABU or not.

If my dog had gone missing and I thought I had tracked her down I would be upset too and I'd want to know how the new 'owners' got her.

But if someone rang me up out of the blue and said they thought my dog had once belonged to them I think I would sound defensive too (even though I bought her from a breeder and have all the paperwork of ownership).

If they got her from a shelter they should also have some proof of that. They will have some paperwork or the shelter will have records (and usually microchip pets before rehoming them).

But even if they have no proof, you still can't prove that they stole the cat. And without a microchip how could you prove it was ever your cat?

As you say that you don't want the cat back now I think you will feel better if you just let this go and decide to accept that your cat chose to rehome itself rather than was stolen by someone. Better that than it was hurt or killed somehow.

YABU. It's a cat, for Pete's sake, not a child, and not even a valuable. Get over it.

Even if it is your cat, there is no proof they stole it from you. Maybe they found it or got it from a rescue place as they say. If you are reassured they are looking after it, then I would let it go.

I have seen this happen. In that case the cat was a very distinctive ginger striped male cat and it seemed to just vanish. A year later myself and others saw him around the neighbourhood and realised someone had taken him. He was a well loved family cat that had been with this family for years so it was sad. The cat is now a few roads away so the family were happy to know he was nearby and happy and well and just left it at that (after a lot of angry debate over whether to confront the people at the house the cat seemed to now ed mis be a resident of). That was the first time I realised people did that.