A woman was left stunned after discovering that her neighbour was trying to steal her beloved cat using fake posters. TikTok user Meg couldn't believe it when her friends told her that they had seen posters labelling her cat, Moose, as missing, when her pet was actually safe and sound at her house.
In a video that has now been watched over 3.4 million times, Meg discovers one of the posters, which claims that the brown tabby had been missing for a few days and is actually called Smudge. With viewers demanding to know what happened next, she later confronts her "insane" neighbour, who tells her that she has done nothing wrong and that the cat is really hers "deep down".
Meg told her 24,000 followers that she had received a number of Snapchat messages from her friends telling her that someone had reported Moose as missing and stuck posters up around the local area which instructed people to call 'Carol' if she was found. Bewildered, she set out alongside her friend to see one of these posters for herself.
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“Ok so I keep getting Snapchats and apparently my cat is missing," she said. "She’s not, Moose is at home right now, but people keep sending me photos of a missing poster of my cat. I’m looking for one now because my cat isn’t missing." After looking for a while, the pair discover the poster with Meg struggling to believe what she she is seeing. Pulling the poster down, she said: "Um, what the f***, that's my cat. She's not missing! What is this? She's called it Smudge! Her name's Moose, not Smudge.
As she walked home, taking the poster with her, she began to suspect who was responsible for the bizarre incident, and what she was going to do next. "“I bet this is my f***ing neighbour," she said. She’s been trying to claim this cat for f***ing months and now she’s reported it missing. I’m fuming.
"The absolute cheek of her to leave her phone number on it as well," she added. "I might just call it for a laugh and see what she says. Because, why is she trying to claim my cat?"
Viewers couldn't believe what had happened, with one writing: "This is so insane I can't believe it," while another added: "the actual audacity of her". Others said that something similar had happened to them, with one user commenting: "This actually happened to my family cat as a child. Not the posters but my neighbour lured my cat into her home daily and then eventually she stopped coming to our house. Then my neighbour renamed her and put a collar on her!"
Some viewers warned her to take protective measures, including contacting the police. "That's the joys of outdoor cats," said one. "Keep it inside and it'll less likely be stolen by your neighbour." Another wrote: "You better get ready. If she says it's hers you may be at risk from getting it taken away. Have proof that you own it." However, many of those who chose to comment urged her to call the number and confront the neighbour, to get to the bottom of why she was doing what she was doing.
Posting an update to the original video, Meg explained that Moose was already microchipped and that she had issued warnings about what was going on to her vets and on a local community Facebook page. She added: "This was the first public thing that she has done. I guess Moose just spends enough time at Carol's house that she thinks Moose is now hers, or that she's left us, I don't know.
"She has previously come to our house demanding that we give her cat back. and she is fully aware that Moose is our cat. She's 100% aware of it, she just believes that she takes better care of her. Which is just not true, she's actually the reason why we've had to put Moose on a diet. I sent all my friends around town to rip down the posters. Moose is fine, she's downstairs asleep. She's all good."
She confirmed that she had called the number on the poster, adding that her discussion with her neighbour "was interesting to say the least". The following day, she posted a clip of the recorded phone call, in which the crazy story took another turn.
After Carol picked up the phone and Meg told her that she was ringing about the 'missing' cat, she desperately asked: "have you seen her? Where? Where?". Meg responded by saying: "Yeah, I see her all the time, in my house. It's my cat."
Carol responded: "She's happier being with me. You don't feed her properly, I feed her proper food. Tuna in sunflower oil, much better than any rubbish I bet you give her." Meg responded: "You're the reason she's getting fat. I've had to start buying her special diet food because of the weight she's putting on."
After being accused of underfeeding Moose, Meg added: "I've got to buy her prescription diet food because of you. It's like £30-40 a bag. Do you want to pay for that? If you're claiming she's your cat then you can pay for all of her vet bills and stuff since you're the reason for it. You haven't got a cat, Carol, she's my cat. She's microchipped with my details."
"I don't like your tone. I've done nothing but treat her well," Carol replied. "She may have your details but she's my cat deep down. You can't stop me," she added, before hanging up.
Shocked viewers were quick to react to the new developments, with one writing: "Is she ok? She needs to buy her own cat not steal someone else's." Another added: "That went from funny to ominous," while a third commented: "I'm so confused, what?". Others pointed out that the neighbour could actually be doing harm to Moose, with one writing: "You should not feed a cat tuna all the time. It's too high in phosphorus to keep feeding it constantly and in sunflower oil isn't good. Spring water is better but only as a treat. Too much phosphorus causes kidney issues, so in time she could be harming her."
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