Same thing happened to me, except the neighbours actually STOLE the cat, locked it inside their house, and then claimed that I had "abandonned it" and didn't take care of it anyway when I asked for them to release it. It still happens occasionnally and I don't know how to deal with crazy people. I wonder how long OP's cat went missing for, because it kind of looks like it wasn't more than 24 hours.

I feel ya 55 My neighbor stole my cat which my whole family has seen sitting in his house and when we went to confront him about it he insisted it was his cat even though it was the exact same cat

call the police and always have your animals microchipped.

Sounds exactly like my cat, except mine doesn't need meds, thankfully. But the little asshole pulled the same trick on me within a week of my taking him in, only reappearing after I'd sobbed my eyes out for about three hours and sent my boyfriend to look for fuzzy splatters in the middle of the street. :( I'm glad everything turned out okay for you, OP, except for the lost time and money!

thats not good

Finally, here's my chance. Why do you live in Alaska? Before I get thumbed down, I shall explain; I assume there's some sort of pros to make up for the con of the bitter cold. I just don't know what it is.

Cats actually try to run away (escape outside) when they are on their last legs of life. It's a weird habit they have, but it's connected to the cat not wanting it's owner to grieve over it's death.

I live in Alaska mainly because the Army said I had to. I'm stationed up here. It does get super cold in the winter but summers are beautiful.

alaska buddies!!! n yes, im up here for the same reason and then we decided to just stay.

#85 Must be a myth. Or every single cat I've ever owned was always on their "last years of life." I've owned quite a few cats since I was little and there were many times where each cat would try and escape. They all lived years past that.

@98 they didn't mean that every time a cat runs outside it's dying. They meant that most of the time when a cat is dying it will run outside/hide.

If your cat is elderly and wants to go outside I suggest bringing the outdoors in. Find a nice secluded corner in your home and get a little square of grass (fill up a cheap cat box with grass, leaves ect) and get a cover or something so he can hide.

Like polar bears?

That's not really a nice thing to do. They obviously care for the cat and simply giving it to a shelter because it wants to go outside and is old is plain stupid. That's like buying a thing you'll only wear once and then return it to the store, that's how wrong it is to give a cat to a shelter just for being difficult to care for.

You don't rehome your fur baby because of reasons like that.

We spent two hours searching the house before we started looking outside for him

Yes. OP obviously knows. You clearly don't know much about cats if you don't realize that they apparently create portals to other dimensions when they don't want to be found.

I guess you didn't read the follow-up. The cat is on medication so they couldn't just wait.

My wife is the smartest woman I know. So **** you, you **** smoker