About 5 years ago, a coworker posted on Facebook that he had found a cat, very affectionate but a bit lanky, and had determined that the cat was homeless. He was posting because winter was coming and he couldn’t take the cat in himself, but he wanted the cat to be safe for the winter.
We were sort-of looking to adopt a cat, so I asked for more info. He said the cat had a tag with a phone number, but that he had called the number (located at least a 2-hour drive away) and had been told that the cat had been sold to someone in Montréal. Having found the cat near Montréal but in a neighbourhood that a cat couldn’t possibly reach on foot from there, he and his wife had concluded that the cat had been voluntarily abandoned.
We took the cat in. He’s been living with us since then, hunting in the woods, climbing trees, educating us on what he expects his house staff to do, and generally having a good time.
Today, I saw my (former) coworker again. He mentioned that, a few weeks after he had brought me the cat, his neighbour had asked him if he’d seen her cat, and started describing the feline in question – “our” cat.
I don’t know why he waited 5 years to tell me; we’ve met many times in the interim, and discussed “our” cat several times. Now it’s too late, I can’t possibly bring the cat back to his rightful owner.
A similar thing happened to me a few years ago, but for a MUCH shorter period of time. I was feeding what I thought was a stray cat, outside for a period of about 6 months. Then cold weather came, so I decided he needed a proper home & brought him indoors, took him to the vet, and got him his shots (he had already been neutered and the vet speculated that he was someone’s abandoned pet-no chip, no collar). Fast forward 2 months and there are flyers all over my neighborhood with a picture of “MY” cat, saying that the cat was lost. I brought him back to his home and learned that he and his 4 litter mates were adopted by a family who lived behind us about 2 years prior. He continued to visit for long periods of time for as long as we lived there.
In your case, it’s been too long. The cat can’t go back.
I would have been ecstatic, five years later, if someone had surfaced and told me that the cat was well and happy in a new home. I might have asked to visit. I wouldn’t have demanded the cat back.
Your cat’s original people may still wake up at night grieving and guilty, wondering whether they heard him at the door. Please let them know that he’s all right.
This. I still worry what happened to LivvyCat. My hopelessly irresponsible roommate left the door open while moving out and we never saw her again. I was incredibly guilty and heartbroken - still am if I think about it too much. I console myself that she was raised by a nearly feral barn cat mother, and surely knew how to take care of herself. But I’d been meaning to replace her collar with a breakaway one and… Oh. It’s over twenty years ago at least, but I’d be overjoyed to learn that she was loved and happy.
I would, however, recommend writing an anonymous note and including a current photo. In the words of the great naturalist Hagrid “Ah, well, people can be stupid abou’ their pets, . . .”. You wouldn’t want to be responsible for starting a feud between coworker and his neighbor. Better run the idea by him first as well.