You do now.
this post was submitted on 12 Jan 2026
815 points (98.8% liked)
cats
26477 readers
1417 users here now
Typical internet cats. Videos, pics, memes, and discussion welcome!
Rule 1) Be kind
Rule 2) Follow the lemmy.world rules
other cat communities
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Nobody owns a cat, this one may decide to select you as its caretaker though. If you make the cut, I wish you many happy years in its service.
Now you do.
I came home from work one day to be greeted by two cats in the window waiting for me. Aww.
Upon entering 'my' house I found two more cats on 'my' sofa that I had never seen before. And they didn't move, just lifted their heads to acknowledge my presence and then went back to sleep...
This is fine.
Upon entering the kitchen there were two more cats on the rear window board looking out in to the back garden. They turned to look at me and then ignored me.
Fine.
After feeding them all 'my' two cats went out in to the garden and were quickly followed by the rest of them. About an hour later the usual two cats came back in with one of the newer ones and they all curled up on the sofa with me.
Fine.
The new one stayed for a few days until I saw a post about a missing cat. Contacted them and, yep, he was from a few streets away.
Never had that happen again.
Cat house parties can get pretty wild.
This photo says otherwise
Nobody owns a cat.
You are owned.
Dogs have owners.
Cats have staff.
My neighbour's cat sometimes sneaks into my apartment. It has explored pretty much every inch of the apartment, including the bathroom sink, under the sofa, under my bed, the kitchen counters, the shower... but it still wouldn't let me anywhere near it. Sometimes I let my main door open just for the cat. I'm hoping one day we'll form some sort of bond and I'll be able to give some pets. I've never owned a cat before but this one made me desperate to get one.
(I'm referring to the cat as "it" because I don't know the sex)
Have you tried sitting in the same room and ignoring the cat? They love that shit.
Start typing up important documents on a laptop.
Walk around holding one end of 5 foot piece of twine.
I did because I know that some cats prefer it if you wait until they get comfortable with you and that cats are really the ones who decide if you're friends, not you. We've gotten as close as getting a few sniffs of my hand. Whenever I open the door, the cat happily comes inside. Lately, I've been leaving the door open and letting the cat roam about. It's usually just a quick routine exploration from the kitchen to the bedroom and then the bathroom before it quickly leaves. It lasts maybe 5 minutes, but I'm just happy I get a visit. I noticed the cat is very interested in my bathroom window, which leads to the same yard it comes from but there's a bush right underneath so it can't jump. I once found muddy fingerprints on my bathroom sink and it felt so wholesome 🥹
If you wanna tempt it try eating tuna, getting a laser pointer, or feeding the cat churu by hand. My cats lick it outta the tube. Your mileage may vary.
You could feed it some tuna but don't go overboard it's a lot of sodium for their kidneys.
I wouldn't feed someone else's cat, you don't know if it's on a medical diet.
It's irresponsible to let a cat outside by itself, doubly so if it's on a special diet. Blaming people for feeding a cat in such situations is like blaming a pedestrian for being hit by a car. I also mention this because outdoor cats are more likely to be hit by a car.
It's pretty well established knowledge not to feed random cats, and the more people who know not to, the better.
Do you feel blamed by people informing each other about this? If so, why? I didn't see anyone assigning blame here besides you.
That's true. I've been very tempted to feed it a few scraps of food (like breadcrumbs or leftover canned tuna), but I know some animals don't respond well to some food and I'm not used to cats yet. I had a dog so I know not to feed dogs any chocolate, grapes, or nuts, but all I know is that [most] cats can eat tuna so I didn't want to risk potentially making my neighbour's cat sick, or worse.
I have been researching animal sanctuaries to start the process of getting a cat though, so eventually I'll have some actual cat food. Maybe then I'll try to feed this one a few bites, but I think I'll ask the neighbour first because I don't know if this cat is allergic to a specific ingredient or anything.
This cat seems young and playful so I might try playing with a toy. I love it whenever I catch the cat burying its poop 🤣 I also heard some feisty screams with my other neighbour's cat so I know that there's some drama going on haha
If it left your toilet paper in tact, that’s a keeper.
Aww the cute wittle human's been adopted!
I was in the subway this morning and of all the passengers, I never expected a cat to be one. Ended up trying to take care of her so she doesn't do anything rash.
"Kitty, here's what's wrong with the hyperloop concept ..."
50% of cat owners don't even know they have a cat yet.
congrats on joining the other 50% that now know you have a cat.
I live in a rural area, and there are "outside" cats, and they regularly get let into my house.
Cat distribution system does not make mistakes, you are a cat person now.
On mother earth, cat owns you!
I'm not going to warn you again. Get out, or I'll call the guards!
I remember us getting a call from a neighbor telling us that our cat was inside his house and to please come and get her.
So I did, she had apparently got in via a ground level window in their basement.
This only happened once when she was very young.
This happened recently to my relative, who was housing a young guy from her church. Kind of a shit, but mostly harmless. Everybody knew there was only one cat in her house, a small black cat, and then a huge orange cat next door. He got the two cats confused and didn't say anything for three days about the strange cat hiding in the house until the neighbor became very persistent.
The “I don’t own a cat” meme is so hot right now!
Haha so cute
My cat once hid in our neighbour’s bathroom for three days.