Man Sees His Cat in Neighbor’s Real Estate Listing

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Have you ever lost a pet and wondered if maybe someone else (like a neighbor) had taken him or her in and wouldn’t let your cat or dog back out the door? Perhaps they wanted to keep their new four-legged friend safe or, on the other hand, that neighbor could know all too well that Fido or Fluffy already had a home and that their owner was agonizing over what happened to their baby. Sound familiar?

Lost Pets = Heartbreak

A lost pet can be heartbreaking, especially if you have kids. We’ve all seen, at one time or another, those sad little flyers that get tacked up on telephone poles that are complete with a picture of a lost pet. Some offer a reward and others just a plea for the return of someone’s precious pet because the kids are at home crying their little eyes out.

Missing UK Cat

So, if this has happened to you, how do you think you would feel if you saw your beloved pet in a photo living in a neighbor’s home? Well, according to Nexstar Media Wire, that actually happened in the UK recently. Michael Hublank, who is the head of Clinical Genomics at the Royal Marsden Hospital, a cancer treatment hospital in London. He was taking a quick look at a listing on a real estate website in the UK called Zoopla. This particular listing was that of his next-door neighbor’s home, which was recently listed for sale.

A Shocking Home Interior Photo

While he was looking at the interior pictures of neighbor Ronnie’s listing, he was utterly shocked to see a shot of one of the bedrooms in the home with a familiar face in it. Lo and behold, on the bed was his lost orange cat named Freddy, who was sprawled out on the bedroom’s purple bedspread. Clearly, the kitty was relaxed and enjoying himself. The first thing that Michael said was “Hey, that’s our bloody cat!”, and then he said, “That’s not your bed, Freddy!”

An Occasional Visit

Michael had noticed Freddy visiting Ronnie’s house occasionally, however, he never realized just how comfortable Freddy was next door. And, when he shared his pet experience on Twitter, people just couldn’t seem to get enough. As luck would have it, many of them had even been through the same experience with their own beloved pets. According to METRO UK, that bad boy cat had been captured in the picture happily lounging on the bed in Ronnie’s house.

Cheeky Freddy Owns the Place!

Hublank and his wife describe Freddy as “cheeky” and “looking as if he owns the place” when he’s lounging around in Ronnie’s home. He also said that they might not have found him if Ronnie hadn’t told them that he was putting his house up for sale and Mrs. Hublank hadn’t seen the Zoopla listing initially. And, although Freddy would go next door once in a while for a saucer of milk, they never dreamed that it was where he had disappeared to.

A Cat By Any Other Name

Apparently, Freddy makes himself comfortable in other homes, too, not just Ronnie’s. Hublank remarked that Freddy’s actually quite well-known on their street and has become known by a number of different names. One of their neighbors calls Freddy “Tibby” while another one has named him “Leo”. This friendly feline is obviously quite shameless and now he’s also famous to boot.

Freddy’s Viral Fame

He’s become popular on social media and Hublank calls Freddy’s viral fame an interesting experience. He also stated that it’s been quite funny when he’s trying his best to concentrate on his work running the Royal Marsden cancer testing lab in Sutton. He said that he has had important things in need of preparation for the next day but often found it difficult to concentrate when his phone was ringing like crazy. He also joked about how typical it was that ten years or more of posting thought-provoking comments that revolve around the subject of genomics went mostly unnoticed, but just one cat tweet gets all of that attention.

A Strange Day

In fact, his tweet about the discovery of Freddy’s second life was the inspiration for thousands of comments. Some of them were from cat owners who had thought they were the only people that this had happened to. Still, others came from people who were actually taking communal pet ownership in stride. Hublank commented that they’ve all been really nice. He also said that it would appear that half of the country has stories to share about unfaithful cats. And, they’ve spent an entire day doing just that. He further related how he had initially tweeted about it because he was simply “gobsmacked” about how comfortable his “bloody cat” looked on that bed. After tweeting, he actually went cycling and came home to find out from his daughter in Sheffield that his tweet went viral. Then, Hublank simply stated that it was a “strange day”.

All’s Well That Ends Well

As for Freddy, the fickle feline is now safe at home. Well, for now, that is. Will he be a good boy and stay in the home where he belongs or will he continue venturing out into the neighborhood looking for the comfiest beds and more saucers of milk? Only time will tell but, at least, this time if Freddy goes missing, Michael and his wife will know to check with all of the neighbors to see if Freddy has moved in and made himself comfortable with them. If he does decide to stay safely at home, I’ll bet that the people who named him “Leo” and “Tibby” will miss him almost as much as the Hublanks did.

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