After two and a half weeks on honeymoon, Ashley and Bronwen returned home, eager to relax a bit. But when they arrived at their house under renovation, Ashley was stunned: a black cat was waiting for them at the window.
Puzzled, he took a photo and alerted his wife. That's when a neighbour came out and asked if they owned a cat. But the animal wasn't theirs. The mystery was just beginning.
A well-settled intruder
Ashley first imagined the feline had slipped inside whilst friends were working on the renovation. But once inside, he quickly realised the animal was trapped. The frightened cat darted from room to room, passing through holes in the walls. Eventually, Ashley found him huddled behind some insulation materials.
As the house had been empty for a week, the couple assumed the cat had survived by drinking water left by the workers. Some half-eaten chocolate biscuits also suggested he'd tried to feed himself as best he could.
Ashley and Bronwen named him "Phantom". And despite his forced stay, he'd been surprisingly tidy: he'd chosen two specific corners to do his business. Unfortunately, one of them damaged the doors the couple had planned to install.
A constant game of hide-and-seek
Over the following days, Phantom played hide-and-seek with them. Sometimes he'd hide under the bath or behind furniture, other times he'd disappear completely before reappearing at the sound of his bell. Bronwen eventually managed to catch him and put him outside.
Whilst they'd love to keep him, Ashley and Bronwen think Phantom already belongs to someone: he's well-groomed and wears a collar. Being new to the neighbourhood, they don't want to be seen as the ones who "stole" a neighbour's cat. For now, they're letting Phantom come and go as he pleases.
They plan that if the cat decides to stay, they'll take him to the vet to check for a microchip and find his possible owners.
A guest who's charming the internet
Ashley shared his discovery on Reddit, in the r/CatDistributionSystem group. The post quickly won over internet users: more than 20,000 upvotes and 520 comments in just a few days.
