Two families are fighting each other for custody of a no-good, dirty cat after discovering that the pet they thought they knew and loved had actually been cheating on them for more than a decade.

The Siamese cat, Ming [KNOWN ALIAS: Cleo], lived happily with Alice Alexander and her family for years. Or so she thought.

But after a few good years, Ming began coming home late, without his collar ("Must have left it at the office Alice, my bad."), and lost interest in having dinner. It's also strongly suggested that he switched to a new cologne, covered up the grey in his fur and started going to the gym.

Eventually he stopped coming home at all, and the Alexanders presumably moved on with their lives and began to rebuild.

Until Ming showed up again four years later. After some sleuthing, detailed in this Stuff.co.nz article, the Alexanders discovered the ultimate betrayal: Ming had been living with a second, apparently unaware family, the whole time.

Now the two families, who say "they just want the cat to be happy," are apparently trying to come to a custody agreement.

Although they say they understand Ming/Cleo will probably always be a cheater, his second family told the website, "Cleo is part of the family and been with us for nine years, we can't just push him away now. It's emotional for us too, he loves us and always come back."

[h/t Nothing to Do with Arbroath, image via Shutterstock]