Panicked owner searches everywhere for their escaped cat, mistakes a stray kitten for them, only to discover their cat was hiding at home all along, and now they have a new family member: 'Feels like they were scheming'

Every cat owner knows that moment of panic… when you suddenly can't find your cat in all of its usual hiding spots. 

All cats have strange hiding spots. You, as a cat owner, learn that sooner or later. I learned that later. I didn't know just how agile my chonky cat is when it comes to hiding. A giant fly will be sitting right next to her, begging her to catch it, and she will not move. Too lazy. But climbing inside of an open cabinet above the sink because there is a slight chance of finding a piece of bread in that cabinet, then staying there because it's comfy or something, and giving her momma a heart attack… well, that's easy for her. If that hasn't happened to you yet, it will. We promise. One day, everything will be completely normal, and then, you will find your cat behind the fridge or something. 

Sometimes, these hiding places really are impressive. Other times, our cats are hiding right under our noses. That was the case with today's panicked cat owner. One moment, everything was fine. The next moment, they couldn't find their cat. The cat, of course, didn't bother helping them. The cat let them go on panicking, sitting quietly in their hiding spot, enjoying life as usual. Meanwhile, the owner was outside looking for them and unknowingly changing their whole life. Because they did find a cat outside - a cat they thought was their cat - except it wasn't. The kitten they found was completely different, but that kitten liked the thought of being spoiled rotten for the rest of its life in a warm home, and now that the opportunity presented itself, they were not going to give up on it. And so instead of finding their own cat, this person ended up bringing a second one home.