Posted on 01/08/2013 7:37:06 PM PST by BerryDingle
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —The last time Jacob and Bonnie Richter saw their 4-year-old tortoiseshell cat Holly, she bolted out of their motor home at the Daytona International Speedway on Nov. 4, apparently frightened by fireworks.
For days, the distraught couple searched for Holly, putting up flyers and alerting rescue agencies before despondently heading home to West Palm Beach.
There was a brief glimmer of hope two weeks later when a rescue group spotted the distinctive cat outside of a Daytona Beach restaurant which fed feral cats.
But before the Richters could drive there, Holly had disappeared.
Then she showed up, skin and bones, paws rubbed raw and too exhausted to meow, in Barb Mazzola's Palm Beach Gardens yard.
"She was pitiful. She just stood there, ready to collapse," said Mazzola, who rushed to the store for cat food and began feeding the cat she named Cosette.
In a week, Holly was well enough to walk inside. Mazzola coaxed her into a cat carrier and took her to the vet, where she was scanned for a microchip.
The chip came back to match the Richters, who got a call from the pet tracing agency Saturday.
The couple couldn't believe it. Holly had traveled about 190 miles in 62 days.
Since Holly was an inside cat, they had no idea how she found her way, ending up less than a mile from home.
"It was quite a journey for this little girl," said Jacob Richter, holding his cat to his chest and breaking into tears. "We just can't believe she came home."
Mine seems happy enough to wander around and check out the universe on his leash. I just follow him around to make sure he doesn’t get into trouble.
The catch is that you have to let the cat decide where he or she wants to go. You can’t just walk them where you want to go like a dog, at least not for most cats.
LOL!
I live in a state where it’s now mandatory to have all kitties and doggies on leashes and or in carriers when traveling in a car. Seriously.
http://www.petside.com/article/new-jersey-leads-way-pet-buckle-laws
It seems kind of mean to the dogs. How are they going to put their heads out the window?
I have tried leashing my cat to take her for a walk. It did not bode well for the cat and i still have the battle scars. She’d rather watch the world from her window.
Ah! Feisty-looking, she is.
Owning pets & traveling can be problematic. These people probably don’t have someone to take care of their pet, & instead bring it along. Certainly, they need to be more careful if there are things going on (like fireworks) that would frighten the animal.
That being said, my sweetie had a travel trailer when we got together set up to allow his cats to go camping with him. It had a door that they could go out when they wanted to explore & a way to get back to safety when they needed to. The cats LOVED to go camping. When we started loading the trailer they would get in & purr loudly, all ready to go.
Back in the 50s when my parents moved from a rented farm about 40 miles north of Austin to one about 60 miles east of Austin, one of our cats ran away. Several months later, it showed up at the old farm. Straight line travel was probably 70 miles.
They thought he was gone, But the cat came back. He just wouldn't stay away. He gave it to a little boy with a dollar note. He told the boy to take the cat up river on a boat. The boat turned over and was never found, And now they drag the river for the little boy who drowned... But the cat came back the very next day. Yes, the cat came back.
They thought he was gone, But the cat came back. He just wouldn't stay away.
The man around the corner said he'd shoot the cat on sight. He loaded up his shotgun full of nails and dynamite. He waited... and he waited... 'till the cat came walking round And ninety-nine pieces of the man was all they found... But the cat came back the very next day. Yes, the cat came back.
They thought he was gone, But the cat came back. He just wouldn't stay away.
The H-bomb fell the very next day. The A-bomb fell in the very same way. Russia went! England went! And then the USA. The entire human race was left without a chance to pray...
But the cat came back the very next day. Yes, the cat came back. They thought he was gone, But the cat came back. He just wouldn't stay away
We often take our two cats for a stroll on the golf course behind our house. People stop and ask how we get them to follow us.
Who is walking whom?
Grumpy Cat’s real name is Tardar Sauce - so named because the owner’s daughter thought her speckled coat looked like tartar sauce (which was misspelled on the registration form). Her hoomins affectionately refer to her as “Tard.”
Of course she’s feisty; she’s a tortie.
This poor soul is owned by a tortie and a torbie.
Very interesting,when we moved a couple of times always kept cats indoor for at least a week before letting them out.
Would never bring them on a trip to nervous they would get out and get lost.
I knew one of those was Pinky the cat. Someone sent the link to everyone in our area at work and people were almost crying they were laughing so hard when the guy screams when the cat goes for his crotch.
I wonder if they found a home for Pinky.
Certainly not my home!
Personalities differ widely. I’ve had skittish kitties I would never trust going out except in a cat carrier. And then I’ve had cats who were calm to the point of being comatose with all h*ll breaking out around them. You just have to know your cat & be prepared. :-)
Was his name Toonces?
and how many cars did he wreck on his way?
:)
Personalities differ widely..
They sure do i trapped 6 kitties from one mother and kept them all every kitty was completely different even though brought up the same way,some skittish one would follow me around day and night second i sat down she was on my lap,other one would run from me if i was heading in his direction.
The follower cat is the best hunter we ever had a record kill of over 40 mice this year with some snakes and lizard as well,neatly deposited on the door step.
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