Bob, the adventurous feline, was caught grooming himself in a neighbor’s living room—a mile from home.
High school student Jess Burton was on her way to the bus stop last week when she did a double take—there, in a stranger’s window, sat a cat that looked just like her own. But as she locked eyes with the orange-and-white feline, her shock set in: it was her cat, Bob, casually grooming himself inside an unfamiliar house over a mile from home.
For 15 years, Bob has been a mischievous but beloved member of the Burton family. Adopted as a kitten, the free-spirited tabby splits his time between indoor naps and outdoor escapades, charming neighbors for extra treats and sneaking into gardens. But his latest exploit was his boldest yet.
“I walked past at first and thought, ‘Ha, that looks like Bob!’” Jess told The Dodo. “Then I backtracked to snap a photo for my family—only for him to look up and meow at me through the glass like, ‘Oops.’”
Bob’s guilty glance was fleeting. Unfazed, he returned to his grooming session, ignoring Jess’s scolding. “I told him it wasn’t his house and to get out, but he just kept licking his back,” she said. Though Bob has a history of infiltrating neighbors’ spaces, lounging in a living room was a new level of audacity.
With her bus approaching and no one answering the door, Jess had no choice but to leave. “If he got himself in, he could get himself out,” she reasoned. The family suspects Bob slipped in through a cat flap—likely helping himself to another pet’s food along the way.
True to form, Bob sauntered home later that day, “smug as ever,” as if nothing had happened. After a stern lecture (and a refill of his favorite china bowl), he settled in for the night—though Jess doubts his roaming days are over.
“He’s a cheeky senior who loves adventure,” she said. “Maybe he’s just gotten sneakier.”
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