Would You Ever Confuse Another Cat For Your Own?

A man and woman on TikTok claim they took in a stray, believing it was their own identical-looking cat.

Back in 2021 we were fascinated by the story of a Redditor who thought he found his missing cat after three weeks, only for his actual cat to come walking through the door a week later.

The cats did look remarkably similar, and it’s conceivable that the Redditor was so happy to have his cat back that he didn’t realize there were very small differences.

Now a couple on TikTok claims something similar has happened to them, although it should be taken with a grain of salt. They claim they brought a cat inside, believing it was their feline overlord, only to begin cuddling him the exact moment they realized their actual cat was outside looking in, appearing none too happy about the situation.

Of course to take the story at face value you’d also have to believe that the entire incident happened to be captured on video by an unnamed third person who happened to be filming them at that moment, and happened to have their camera in portrait mode for maximum TikTok compatibility.

TikTok cat doppelganger claim
The TikTokers

I’m not linking to the account or the Upworthy story that takes it at face value because I’m not a fan of clickbait or content scrapers, but it did remind me of the interesting 2021 story and my reaction to it.

At the time I noted three of Bud’s unique physical characteristics: his bright green eyes framed by dark “guyliner,” the unique tuft of white fur on his chest and perhaps his most obvious distinguishing feature, his pronounced muzzle. You can see it in this photo thanks to the angle:

Buddy from above
A Buddy like no other.

But most of all, Buddy’s personality is utterly unique. I could probably search to the ends of the Earth and hell would freeze over before finding a gray tabby cat with the same physical features, the same tyrannical Elmo voice and the same imperious personality.

I cannot fathom mistaking another cat for Bud because I can’t imagine another cat with all of the above qualities who also narrates his own activities in real time like a play-by-play announcer who sounds like a disco-funk vocalist singing in falsetto.

“Jumping off the couch now…funky! I can see the bottom of my bowl, dude, and that is decidedly un-funktacular! I’m gonna do a few laps around the living room at 27mph while filling you in on my latest theories about the multiverse, okay? Prepare to get funky! So I think there are — ooh, I found a crunchy treat I must have missed earlier! Nomnomnom! — anyway, I was doing some calculations and I believe if we extend out to 11 dimensions, we solve some of the incompatibilities I was telling you about earlier. In simple terms, all particles in our universe are like vibrations on a tiny rubber band, physics is the harmonies on the string, chemistry is the melodies we play on vibrating strings, the universe is a symphony of strings, and the mind of God is cosmic music resonating in 11-dimensional hyperspace! Bring me catnip! I need catnip! Can’t you see I’m on the verge of another breakthrough here?”

Buddy
Buddy: Catnip aficionado, play-by-play announcer and theoretical physicist. Also, beefcake.

I’ve described Bud as a lunatic, and that’s one reason I love him. He’s crazy in the best way, unpredictable, amusing and never boring.

Could you ever mistake another cat for your own? What makes YOUR cat unique?

19 thoughts on “Would You Ever Confuse Another Cat For Your Own?”

  1. Great question. I hear about these stories. First story was about tuxedo cat that was not owners. Her cat brought in her twin indoors. 🤣🤣So i might mistake a cat for mine. All i have to do is put that cat near a screen window. If that cat does not try to make a hole that cat is not mine. My cat took less than 30 seconds to make a hole to escape.

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    1. Yep it’s the personality part that I don’t get. Unless it’s a cat who is quiet, doesn’t interact much or the caretakers don’t initiate much interaction. Unfortunately I’ve seen some situations in which cats are treated like glorified house plants.

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      1. As busy as my clients and friends are they will always spend time with them. One owner who had to go see family came home to euthanize very sick cat who was going downhill quickly. Another, sadly, was out of country and i stayed with him until he passed from euthanasia. And i will never understand a person who puts their pet in hospice for them to die without them there. Too sad? Get the eff over it. Another subject.

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    1. Oh now I have to hear that lol. I imagine a cat pestering you for dinner, looking at the bowl, looking back up at you and saying “That’s my MFin’ dinner? I said ‘Royale with cheese!’ not a MFin’ salmon pate!”

      I got a copy of the book “Go The #$%@ To Sleep!” for my bro and his wife when they had their first kid, but I wish I’d gotten the Samuel L. Jackson audiobook version which is just perfect:

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  3. Not my cat, but my SON. We moved from Minnesota to southern California when he was ten, and there was a Hispanic boy so identical to my son that, at a distance, both the other boy’s parents and I would get our sons mixed up. (My son is half Italian and half Native American.)

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  5. my cats have a unique meow. No mistake who’s who so never mistaking for an invader I guess it could happen if your cat is a stereotypical introvert 🐱😊

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    1. Which begs the question, where are people getting all these super chill cats who see a strange cat infringe on their territory and are like “Oh, sure, come on in! Share in my yums! Here, enjoy my favorite napping spot!”

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  6. Physically impossible, no other cat looks like Bella or Bertie at all, ( or behaves like them) Bella snores as well when she is sleeping and her sea green eyes are a major factor, Bertie has a weird sort of “slinky ” walk that is unique to him. nope thay are definitely unique and wonderful

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  7. Most of my cats have unique aspects that would help me to identify them: Chick has a pronounced Roman nose, Neddy has the palest orange streaks and the bluest eyes. One of Vincent’s pads grows in a split – all the kittens in his litter had that. Pixie has a pattern like the African continent on her left side, she’s our continent queen.

    The hardest cats to recognize from afar – assuming you live in the country like I do and people let their cats roam – are solid color and dark tabby cats. A close inspection has to be done then. 🙂

    Once I had two solid white kittens from an all white litter. The little boys had very faint black marks on their heads which faded over the years. They ended up blindingly white with ice blue eyes, stunningly beautiful.

    Thanks for using the term guyliner, that’s a new one to me. I’m gonna use it. 😉

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    1. Blue eyes are stunning on cats. I would like to see photos of your pride, especially your continent queen and Chick of the “roman nose.” I’m picturing a very patrician looking cat in a toga and sandals.

      Guyliner is a hilarious word. Recently I saw M use the word beefcake in one of her blog posts and it reminded me of a photo I saw of Bruce Vilanch wearing a shirt that said “BEEFCAKE.” Perfect for Buddy the Beefcake.

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  8. Little Buddy, that is a distinctive muzzle for sure! I don’t think I could mistake any cat I live with for another. With standoffish ferals, for awhile I did confuse newly arrived Uncle Jack with a Jack who left about the same time. But at first we didn’t get many good looks at him, and I wasn’t there every day.

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    1. And with ferals they usually don’t let you get close, so that’s understandable. Completely different ballgame with them compared to a snuggly house cat.

      Yeah Bud’s got unusual features. When he was a kitten he had big, bugged-out eyes, huge ears for his little head and the big muzzle. He also had a bad limp and he was sick…but he was so energetic, happy and curious. A few weeks of high quality food and he was jumping around without any problems, his coat was beautiful and he had made himself king.

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