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I adopted two rescue kitties a few months ago at seven months. They're brothers, beautiful Russian Blues. Paid a few hundred dollars in fees to cover fostering costs, dentist visits, shots, microchipping, etc. They have been raised as outdoor cats, with a lot of freedom… usual pattern is they stay in with me during the daylight and evening hours, and roam freely at night exploring the great outdoors.

Long story short, I discovered yesterday that my neighbor two doors down has been feeding them and bringing them into her house to play with her two kids. Claims she didn't know they belonged to anybody. We had what I thought was a friendly conversation, and she agreed to stop feeding my cats.

When my cats (Scout and Crockett) still hadn't made an appearance by 4:00 this afternoon, I walked over and knocked on their door, asking if they had seen them today, to which she replied that they had been there this morning but not since.

Something made me stop and think to inquire if they were still letting Scout and Crockett into their home, now that they knew they belonged to somebody. Long story short, things got really nasty from there. These neighbors are basically refusing to stop their behavior, claiming that if my cats "walk in" to their house, they have every right to keep them inside.

Here it is after 8:30 p.m. and still haven't seen hide nor hair of my kitties. I believe they've been cat-napped! The police won't do anything unless I can tell them for certain that this lady has possession of them (my "property") in her house.

I feel like I've been robbed! Like these people have stolen my darling kitties' affection away from me. I am disabled and these are emotional support animals. The only way I can enforce my rights is to get them back and lock them in my house, forcing them to be indoor cats from now on. I just hate to penalize Scout and Crockett for this woman's bad behavior. She is setting a terrible example for her kids, in my opinion.

I don't even know if I will be able to get my pets back. I don't know what to do, and I can't seem to stop crying. I really don't want to start a war with my neighbors over this, or for things to escalate to a worse place than they are now. But if Scout and Crockett don't reappear, should I contact the police department again tomorrow and request an officer to come over to speak with these neighbors to try to put the matter to rest?

I can't even imagine what they are telling themselves, that makes them think they have any right to do this. I'm sorry their kids have gotten so attached, but hey… not my doing. Besides, I'd be happy to let them come over and play with my kitties anytime they want, with their parents' permission, of course. And provided we can keep this on a civil level - which right now, it is not!

I need some help getting a better perspective on this.

Sorry for the rant. Thanks for reading this far!

Alison