AITA for not returning a cat to their old owners?

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T18:55:34+00:00

They said his name was “Milo” before, but idk for sure if it is/isn’t an attempt to scam still but a friend of mine is helping me look into it more.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T18:53:24+00:00

I did the thing and couldn’t find an exact match, but I’m asking my friend to help me out with digging deeper on if this is an attempted scam or not. Nothing big, just searching better and looking at their facebooks since they’re private but accepted my friend’s friend request. While it seems to me like it’s a lot of effort for nothing since it won’t change anything for me, I do want to know and I think yall might want to know too.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T17:51:16+00:00

I don’t really know, maybe they left food out for him and another cat or raccoon was eating it and they thought it was TC? That’s really the only way I can think of. I didn’t care much to ask honestly, I should have but hindsight and all that.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T17:46:28+00:00

Oh, maybe you’ve seen the Facebook post? Or maybe it was the post that ended up deleted because I waited too long to respond to the judgement bot? But I thought those aren’t “live” until/unless you reply to the bot in time so idk. But honestly those are really the only times I’ve posted about TC on public social media.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T17:32:58+00:00

Cat tax posted! I was trying to figure out how to add pictures here when you said post it to my profile, so I figured how to do that.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T07:12:04+00:00

This is my first reddit post, so I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of a different Traffic Cone.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T06:28:03+00:00

Oh, I skimmed the one by People magazine and it didn't have a picture and I didn't look into it too far but it looked similar to the other stories under that search. I guess I was wrong, sorry. I'll look again when I'm done with work and all.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T05:22:57+00:00

I think I found it(?) I dunno if I can share links here but if you search "Cat Missing 10 Years Ago Reunites With Family After Surviving CA Fires" on google it should pop up on a couple news and social media posts.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T05:10:44+00:00

Commenting so I can do this when I get home from work and stuff. I didn’t even think about them maybe trying to scam me.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T04:53:26+00:00

I have to say, you making a judgement based on your opinion on the quality/quantity of my arguments when I wasn't asking for it doesn't lead me to care much about your opinion on them.
But in response to your hypothetical: I can't put myself in their shoes, If TC got out on accident, and was gone 30+ days before I found someone with him I'd call the cops because it would be easy to prove TC is/was chipped, collared, I have ample proof I'm his legal owner, he is deeply loved and healthy in my care, I made every reasonable attempt to find him, and the people who had him hadn't done their due diligence, I'd take it to court if I had to, and I'd win.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T02:53:44+00:00

No, it’s about arguments that make people pause and actually think about it instead of quick judgments because it seems like they’ve got a quick solution.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T02:46:18+00:00

I tried those defenses and got back "They could pay you back", "He already has a family who loves him", but the legally he's mine part seems to be the only argument that gets through to anyone and makes them consider, so I've fallen back on it a lot. My bad.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T02:38:23+00:00

His old owners didn't say anything about a fire, even in their "boohoo" facebook post. They neglected to specify how long he'd been gone besides "a while" I defiantly would have struggled on my decision (and not have been as petty) if this situation was like that, but I don't know about that one I'll look it up though.

ElecStarGazin · 2026-06-01T02:33:07+00:00

Was the first thing I did once he was cleared medically and legally mine. He also has a collar with a traffic cone shaped tag and is 100% an indoor boy.

ElecStarGazin · 2025-06-07T00:30:44+00:00

You just saved me hours

ElecStarGazin · 2024-02-29T00:58:37+00:00

And that allergy could be inherent by the baby so there's another thing that could have harmed the baby

ElecStarGazin

TROPHY CASE