Woman Is Mortified After Making Major Mistake at Animal Lover’s House During Their First Date

A woman has shared one of her most “mortifying,” yet ultimately lighthearted, first-date experiences — a misunderstanding that centered on a cat named Sooty.

In a post on the U.K.-based parenting forum Mumsnet, the woman explained that she had met a man named Tom online. After chatting for a few weeks, the two decided to meet in person for their first date.

“Tom told me lots about his cat Sooty and I was happy he was an animal lover,” she wrote.

They met at a local bar near both of their homes and, by her account, hit it off immediately. After a few drinks, they planned to head out for dinner, but an unexpected mishap changed the course of the evening.

“A drunk woman knocked her drink over him,” she recalled. “So Tom suggested we walk to his house — very close by — so he could change his top. At the same time, he’d order us an Uber to the restaurant.”

Once they arrived at his place, Tom went to change his shirt while she waited in the living room with a glass of wine. While sitting there, she noticed a black cat perched on the windowsill. Assuming it was Sooty, she opened the window and let the cat inside.

Soon after, Tom was ready to leave, and the pair headed back out to continue their date. Everything seemed fine until later that night.

“When we parted ways, Tom rang after he got home sounding astonished and asked if I’d let a black cat into his house,” she said.

She confirmed that she had, explaining she thought the cat was Sooty. That’s when Tom delivered the surprising news: Sooty was actually an indoor cat — and had been inside the entire time.

As it turned out, Sooty wasn’t a black cat at all, but a gray Persian with a black nose and dark ear tips. The cat she’d welcomed inside belonged to a neighbor.

“The neighbor had seen him through the window in Tom’s house and wasn’t impressed,” she wrote. “Both cats were unhappy about each other’s presence, and Tom had to clean up the house, calm down his neighbor, and explain that he hadn’t deliberately tried to catnap anyone’s pet.”

The woman admitted she was deeply embarrassed by the mix-up.

“I told my best friend that I thought it was an easy mistake for anyone to make,” she said. “She said it was just typical of me.”

Despite her worries, the Mumsnet community found the story hilarious and reassured her that all might not be lost.

“Thanks for the laugh,” one commenter wrote. “Who knows — your date may be seeing the funny side and want to see you again. Who says you’ve blown it?”

“This is Tom’s own fault for calling a gray cat Sooty,” another joked.

Others encouraged her to embrace the humor of the situation. “Send Tom a text laughing at what a twat you were,” one person suggested. “It’s a great story to tell the kids.”

As for the woman herself, she ended her post with a shrug and a laugh: “I’m not sure I’ll hear from Tom again.”