Animal Disputes

So, back on August 2nd my ex-boyfriend was allowed alone back in our apartment (after we broke up/I changed the locks, because the lease was only in my name) to get some of his things, he decided to take our two cats instead. Afterwards he blocked me on all forms of contact, wouldn’t respond to friends and family contact, and I went into a very dark place. Later that week on August 5th I checked myself into treatment and stayed until my insurance ran out on august 21st. My mom thinking that he would eventually budge, decided to let him back into the apartment alone on august 19th and moved everything of his and our cats out. Leaving me with a newly signed lease in central Austin that I couldn’t afford, and no possible way of knowing where he moved. Nobody I knew that he knew would tell me where he moved, and after speaking with a lawyer and a detective I found out the only option I had was to take him to small claims court. In order to do that I had to have his residency and I hired a private detective to find out where he was living. After finding out I submitted the lawsuit in the proper jurisdiction it’s the pursuit to receive both cats because legally they were in my name and I had adoption records, vet records, and microchip records in my name along with an animal addendum with both of them on my lease. I finally saw a judge yesterday after waiting months. She basically ruled that she had to do more research on our case because she was unsure what the proper thing to do was considering he did pay me rent and expenses for the pets. She ruled that she’d make a decision by the end of the week to either split the cats up, or order them to be sent to the pound. My ex asked if we made a decision by the end of the week to split them, could that be possible. And the judge agreed and is hopeful that we can come to some decision on our own. So now he holds all the cards, considering I want to split them and my mom texted him and made that clear. He responded he wanted to think things over and would reach back out. So now I’m still pretty much in the same spot, and I’m just wondering that if the judge does order them to the pound, do I have a chance of getting them back because they are microchipped in my name with my contact information?