I’ve received this heartwarming tale from many readers who know of my ailuorphilia. This version is from the New York Times, describing how a cat lost in Colorado turned up in Manhattan five years later:
UPDATE: Willow’s mystery solved: she was found by somebody who took her to New York on a plane. She later was taken to a shelter, where the microchip was found.
A calico cat named Willow, who disappeared from a home near the Rocky Mountains five years ago, was found on Wednesday on a Manhattan street and will soon be returned to her family, where two of the three children and one of the two dogs may remember her.
A man discovered Willow on East 20th Street on Wednesday and took her to a shelter
How she got to New York, more than 1,800 miles away, and the kind of life she lived in the city are mysteries.
But thanks to a microchip that was implanted when she was a kitten, Willow will be reunited in Boulder, Colo., with her owners, the Squireses, who had long ago given up hope.
According to the article, the cat had apparently recently been a pet, since it was in good condition and not starving.
Willow (photo by Bebeto Matthews, AP)
And here are two nice commercials for Fresh and Light cat litter.
After seeing the video above, one friend commented, “All the cats I have known and loved would wait until you were really comfortable and then decide to apply the CLAWS.”
and other, featuring cat CPR
h/t: Michael
Cat migration was studied by Darwin’s research associate, George Romanes, in 1881. Unfortunately, he died at age 46 in 1894. The biography by his wife gives a non-technical account of his work on cats and dogs, which formed a basis for his 1884 text Mental Evolution in Animals. For example, her account tells of his studies of the sense of direction in cats. He wrote to Darwin (March 1881) “I have got a lot of cats waiting for me at different houses around Wimbledon Common, and some day next week shall surprise our coachman by making a round of calls upon the cats, drive them several miles into the country, and then let them out of their respective bags. If any return, I shall try them again in other directions … “.
ACK!
I seriously doubt the cat traveled that distance on its own. I would guess that she was taken in by someone who then moved to the New York area.
A face like Willow’s almost doesn’t need a microchip.
You’d be surprised. This gorgeous animal looks almost exactly like my neighbor’s cat. Beautiful animals, both of them.
I was under the impression that the purpose of microchips was precisely to help owners track down their lost pets ..why did it take them five years?
Someone has to scan them. They’re not like the tracking devices attached to animals in the wild.
I can’t resist posting a link to this video, despite it being a commercial, but then .. so where the massage cats, so it’s probably not too big a problem.
It’s also on-topic: long travels by a pet!
PLUS: It has a justification for posting this on CATURDAY! (watch till the end).
Warning: it’s a tearjerker!
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=fER-WhFUzoA
The short followup (Up next) is pretty good too. Here in Pennsylvania we have Gus the goddam stuffed groundhog.
Good one, Jerry. I had a hearty laugh, particularly at the first.
Makes me thankful that my two grrrlz (note spelling) are hardened veterans of using the great outdoors and I no longer have to buy cat litter of any kind.
When I adopted them a couple of years ago, they did use the litter box in the basement when I got them home from the airport, but as soon as they were given access outside, they’ve never even set foot in the cat box.
When questioned about their sanitary habits during pre-adoption negotiations, their previous owner said that they would go outside to do their business even in ten feet of snow. (They came to me from Salmon Arm, BC.)
Those commercials had the uncanny valley effect for me. Or is it the uncatty valley effect?
Another “uncanny valley” reaction here. That effect is deepened by the weirdly responsive and nurturing behavior of the “cats.” Cat-iopulmonary resuscitation is pretty funny, though.
Thank you both for the introduction to a concept I’ve been hitherto unaware of.
Willow – awesome. Cat commercials with creepy animation – awful.
Ah, but a cat cannot be lost! It always knows exactly where it is & what it is doing there! 🙂 It merely wished to pet another person.