[Vision2020] Caturday (December 10, 2022)

[Tom Hansen]

 "She was all tears. It was definitely her Coco, and she was thrilled to get her home and take care of her." Welcome to Caturday.

Courtesy of Our Midland at:

https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/Three-hour-drives-reunites-cat-with-owner-17640853.php?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark

————————————————

Three-hour drive reunites owner with cat
'Coco' had been at Midland shelter for 2 months

After two months of her cat Coco being away from home, a three-hour drive was well worth it for Rebekah Miller to be reunited with her grayish shorthaired domestic earlier this week.
 
Someone had found 15-year-old Coco outside in October and had brought her to the Humane Society of Midland County shelter on East Ashman.

No one came to claim Coco during the shelter's standard seven-day stray hold period, and no one after that had wanted to adopt her.

But a happy ending was still in the works.
 
Miller had grown up in Midland, and part of her childhood included Coco. After Miller moved away six years ago, now living in Gobles, near Kalamazoo, Coco continued to live in Midland with Miller's mother.

When Coco went missing in October, Miller's mother thought the cat might have died, said shelter director Beth Wellman. But eventually, Miller tracked down Coco at the Midland shelter on Tuesday, where the staff had named her "Mimsy."

Now, Coco is safe and sound and living with Miller in Gobles.

"(My mother) didn't want to tell me (at first) that (she thought) Coco had passed, because I've had a rough few months," Miller explained. "I had lost my dog; we had to put him down."

Miller said Coco has always been an indoor/outdoor cat, so she was hopeful that Coco was still around somewhere.

"So I immediately started looking at some of the (online) forums and came across her picture on the shelter website," Miller said. "I talked to my husband and said, 'Hey, I've got to go (to Midland) to check.' He said, 'Yes, you do.'"

As soon as Miller saw Coco in her kennel at the shelter, she knew it was Coco. And Coco recognized Miller as well.

"She knew who I was, even after all these years of just visiting my mom's house," Miller said. "I started petting her. There are certain things that she does not tolerate. Petting her stomach is one of them. So just to make sure, I went ahead and tried to pet her belly. That's when she got sassy with me. Then I knew.

"I cried a lot. They were happy tears. They were also sad tears," Miller said. "I feel bad for not taking her with me (when I moved away from Midland). Unfortunately I wasn't in a place where I could take her. My mom said, 'I'll keep her. She'll be fine here.' And my mom took very good care of her.

"I let my mom know (that I found Coco). She's relieved. She never thought somebody would pick her up. We've never had this issue in the almost 15 years she's been alive," Miller continued.

Miller added that she is very grateful that the Humane Society in Midland is a no-kill shelter and that they took very good care of Coco.

Miller said Coco is doing very well and is getting acquainted with the Miller family's 135-pound Great Pyrenees/German Shepherd mix.

Wellman emphasized that when an older pet comes up missing, pet owners should not assume that the animal has "gone away to die."

"More often than not, someone found (the lost pet) and took them to the shelter," Wellman said. "We encourage people to always look for their pets when they go missing, even if they’re elderly."

And Wellman urges people to get a microchip for their pet to enable shelters to track down the owner. Coco did not have a microchip. The Midland shelter offers microchips for $20.

"Without a microchip, it is very rare for a lost pet to be found," Wellman said.

The Midland shelter is currently participating in the Bissell "Empty the Shelters" initiative through Dec. 11.

"So all our animals have very reduced (adoption) fees (during that time)," Wellman said. Some animals are free to adopt, some are $25, and some are $50. Some animals are free. Some are $25, some are $50. All are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.

————————-

Photo . . .

http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_121022.jpg
Rebekah Miller is reunited with 15-year-old Coco at the Humane Society of Midland County shelter on Dec. 6, 2022. 

————————————————

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.net

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

“A stranger is just a friend you haven’t met.”
- Roy E. Stolworthy
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20221210/a371d306/attachment.html>