Cat Weirdness
 

This has me scratching my head. We used to have two cats (brothers from the same litter). They were indoor-outdoor cats. A few months ago (over July 4th holiday weekend) we think one cat got eaten by a coyote. So we've kept the other cat inside since then. He's slipped out a couple times, but we have always managed to grab him within a few feet of the door and being him back in. Realistically, he has not roamed the neighborhood in 4 months. We even took off his collar/tag because he no longer roamed outdoors.

This morning he slipped out the front door when I took the dog out for a walk. He was out a total of maybe 2 hours max. He never goes far--just along our one block. I watched him go from front yard to front yard for about 20 minutes. Heck, once I finished walking the dog, I still saw him hanging out in our front yard.

Here's where it gets weird. I gave up trying to catch the cat and went outside about 30-45 minutes later. I called the cat and he came trotting right up to me on the front porch. When I picked him up, he had a brand new collar on him, with a name tag! On the tag was professionally etched his name (the name we gave him) and a phone number (not ours!).

Who puts a collar and name tag (with the right name) for a pet that's not theirs?! And then puts their phone number on the tag? Has this person had this tag printed up and ready to go for months? No way they had the time to run out to Petco at 9 am on a Sunday morning to do this. Or do they have some pet name tag engraver machine in their garage at home?

I called the number on the tag and just got voicemail ("Hi, this is Abby. Please leave your number. Thanks.")

Did you have his name & your number on the tag that you took off? It sounds like your cat was familiar with the people that put the new collar and tag on.
He most likely visited them when he was free to roam, and probably got handouts.
When they saw him again, without collar and tag, they may have just assumed that the previous owners were pieces of crap who moved and left their cat to fend for itself. That is what I'd like to think, anyway. Anything other, just creepy.

Call the number and ask them wtf...

Gotta be this....I hope :)

Yep, I'd call...

I'd think that you didn't want to own the cat anymore when you removed the collar.

OWN a cat you say....you funny :)

Not uncommon for outdoor cats to have multiple palaces with separate servants for each.

Other than him leading a double life; I've got no idea either. I think he better stay at home.

Years ago we noticed our indoor/outdoor kitty was coming home smelling like cigarette smoke. We watched him one day. The old lady that lived next door was letting him come in the house and was feeding him. We just started buying her cat food. We moved a year or so later which probably saved him from an early second hand smoke related death.

I wonder if the cat lady who tagged him has his brother.
I could see a situation where both the cats befriend a neighbor, who "adopts" them. Perhaps a cat lady, perhaps a family with children who adore the cats. One of the cats stays, and the other returns home. Since the one that returned to you was kept indoors for safety reasons, the new "owner" considers the cat "missing" and swore if it ever returns, she would adopt the brother as well to keep them together. This would at least partially explain the behavior and tagging. The family was "waiting" for the pet, and when it "came home" they either already had the tags, or were ready to immediately pull the trigger and go buy tags for the beloved missing sibling. If a dispute arises, check local pet ownership laws in your state.
Could be totally off- just a thought. This is how my wife adopted the dog snoring next to me right now!

At least one of your cats is a shape-shifter and has a gig at Petco.

Does Abby do roof inspections? Or garden?

^(i.e. illegally stolen pet)

If the cats are not registered, this wacko might have some legal claim to them.
Or try to.

Update: We told this bizarre story to our next door neighbor. He immediately pulled out his phone and dialed the number on the tag. He gave a story that he had "found" the cat and wanted to know if he needed to return it. The woman on the other end answered honestly that it was not her cat, but she lived in the neighborhood and recognized it. She was concerned it was lost, so she put a collar and tag on it.

OK. Plausible story. But I still think it's weird she had the wherewithal to engrave a name tag (with the cat's correct name) within about 30-45 minutes on an early Sunday morning. FWIW, in the past 7 years that we've let this cat roam the neighborhood, he always had a collar and tag, listing his name and our phone numbers. I know all but 3 of the neighbors on my street/block of 21 homes, and Abby is not one of the 17 neighbors I know.

Wait a sec, Leakyseal has an illegally stolen dog, then?

Shhh! Or you're gonna blow his cover.

You shouldn't name your cat Tabby....

I thought everybody kept a collar & nametag handy in case he gets loose :)

You have just entered the "Twilight Zone" where in an alternative dimension, you have the same cat, but a different phone #, and no memory of changing it........Abby is your new wife.

Truth LMAO!

Is she hot?

Upon talking to neighbors at the annual local neighborhood garage sale, I found out our pound rescued cat named Pirlo, actually had 5 other homes and aka's. When confronted with the evidence, he just gave us a 'oh well' look and strutted out, tail raised high.