Cat Who Ran Away From Home In 2008 Finally Reunites With Owner After 11 Years Of Being A Stray

Aug 30, 2019 by apost team

Losing a pet is a nightmare for pet owners. Owners constantly worry about the fate of their animal, preoccupied if their baby has a warm place to sleep at night or if they go on their wayward journey with an empty belly.

Most often, cases of missing pets simply go unsolved with owners never knowing what happened to their precious friend. Nevertheless, miracles do happen, as illustrated in the story of a woman from New York who waited over a decade for her cat to come home.

The story begins with Carol O’Connell, a staff member at the Duchess County SPCA. Carol devotes her life to caring for animals and noticed a stray cat hanging out in her neighborhood. Carol had been aware of the stray for three years before deciding that she needed to help him. In some of his brief visits to her property, Carol could see that he lived a hard life as his physical health slowly deteriorated over the course of the three years.

Speaking with reporters from her local ABC News station, Carol said that she wasn’t sure what happened to the stray, with a multitude of theories coming into her head, such as him being abandoned, being a runaway, or being a feral cat born in the wild.

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Borrowing a microchip scanner from the Duchess County SPCA, Carol worked to develop a relationship with the stray. One morning, Carol was able to get close enough to determine that the animal did in fact have a chip. Looking in the chip’s database, Carol discovered that the cat had been missing from his home for 11 years. With joy in her heart, Carol contacted Maggie Welz, the cat’s owner.

In an interview with reporters, Maggie said that the cat, whose name is Tiger, ran out the door one day in 2008 and they were never able to find him. Maggie and her family were heartbroken by the loss of the three-year-old Tiger.

When the family had to move, they asked the new owners to keep an eye out for their precious kitty, but Tiger never came home. Maggie was elated to have Tiger returned to her. Arriving at the Duchess County SPCA, Maggie was told by the organization’s vet, Dr. Crum, that Tiger was in amazing shape for having been on his own for the past 11 years.

The Duchess County SPCA later posted Tiger’s story to Facebook, where it has been liked thousands of times. With Tiger in her arms, Maggie and her family say that they are eternally grateful to everyone that helped them get reunited with their beloved cat.

What do you think of how Tiger was found after having been missing for 11 years? Tell us below. Send this article on to the animal-lover in your life.