Okay, so this is kind of a weird "cat phenomenon". I call it the kitty doppleganger effect or maybe it should be the Quantum Physics of Cats. I've seen it three times, now, in person. (twice with my own cats!)
I have a friend, named James, who had this gorgeous tuxedo cat they called Murphy. Well, James and his family moved across town and brought Murphy with them. One summer day, they had left their back door open to let in some fresh air. Murphy came inside and they didn't pay too much attention, until James wife, Marie took a double look at Murphy and realized that it wasn't really Murphy!!! It looked exactly like Murphy (except on the face, the white spot was polar opposite of Murphy's). Well, they greeted him and welcomed him to visit. He started coming over regularly, so they named him "Murphy's Evil Twin." or "MET" for short. Gradually, Met moved in, and Murphy left them for the neighbors three houses down (who were more than happy to have Murphy as a pet). It was a weird switch.
Before I married, I was living in a house with roommates. I had two cats, Skunky (who is still with me), and Sammi (who passed away two years ago). Every day, the neighbor cat would come over and put both paws on the front glass window and yowl for my cats to come out and play, which they did. There was no fighting. They were all friends. Well, one evening, this happened, so my roommate let my cats out. I was just about to leave to go out for the evening and I didn't want my cats running outside at night. I quickly ran outside and grabbed Skunky, who hadn't got past the porch. Sammi had already run off, but I found her on the side of the house. It was dusk - so I grabbed her and threw her back inside, closed the front door behind me, and I left.
An hour later, my roommate, Kim was busy at her computer work. She heard Skunky growling. She was surprised to see that Skunky had Sammi cornered and was acting very agressivly toward her. Kim took a double look and , you guessed it, the cat was not Sammi. In fact, Sammi was sitting on the porch looking inside through the front window. This cat looked EXACTLY like Sammi, except for his whiskers, which weren't as long (and he was a tad bit skinnier).
Now, for the third scenario, it starts two years ago and ends today. When my husband and I married, we ended up with four cats. (He was owned by two "outside-only" felines). One cat was named Merlin (a gorgeous Siamese, who disappeared soon after we were married), and the other cat, Esmerelda, a grey and white longhair. He was named Esmerelda for his lovely green eyes, and then re-named EZZIE for short because the neighbor informed us that she had him neutered before he moved in with my husband. So, after my marriage, we moved to a new home a mile away. Three cats moved with us. Ezzie had to become an indoor-only cat because he kept running away to the other house.
Ezzie had been inside for almost two years, when one day he escaped. We never saw Ezzie again. It broke my heart. I kept checking at the other house for almost a month, and the new occupants promised to keep an eye for him, but he never showed up. We were all sad, but had to give up. Six months later, we moved to our current location (80 miles South). This is where it gets interesting!!!
We had only lived in our new home for two months, when one evening, this grey and white, long-haired cat showed up bawling at the back door. It looked almost EXACTLY like Ezzie (except his face was a little squished looking). He had the same markings, same fur patterns, same length of fur. We were in shock. It took about more than double looks to make sure it wasn't Ezzie. After about a month, we decided he was ours to keep - so we named him Ozzie (Ezzie's evil twin).
And now, this story ends with today! I was driving down the road, not far from my own house, when I spotted Ozzie in a field. I slowed the car down, rolled down my window and called out to him. And, you can probably guess where this is headed. The cat turned and looked at me, and it wasn't Ozzie!!! This cat had the same fur, markings, and look about it, but the face was slightly different. (it didn't have enough white on his face.) Of course, this cat was probably Ozzie's relative - most likely a littermate.
But, perhaps my reality is different than those cats. Maybe they are exsisting in two moments in time and altering their looks so as not to be noticed completely. Who knows. Maybe the cats have figured out the true meaning of the universe and are able to exsist in different planes. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind and can't tell my cats apart from each other.
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