When Kathy Jensen checked Facebook on Thanksgiving Monday and saw post for a missing cat on in Lake Country, she was sure it was the same grey tabby that had been frequenting her yard.
So, like she has done many times before, Jensen stepped away from what she was doing –cooking Thanksgiving dinner – and headed outside to help an animal in need. She was determined to find out if the cat in her yard was the missing kitty that she had seen on social media.
To her surprise, the Facebook poster said that the little grey kitty wasn’t their cat. On a mission to find this cat’s home, Jensen turned to the Okanagan Humane Society (OHS) for help.
“The cat had scratches on its face and I didn’t want it outside, because I didn’t want cougars to get it,” she said.
It turns out this cat was missing, but it wasn’t the recently lost feline, it was Chloe a grey tabby who had been lost for about a year and a half.
Thanksgiving was anything but a holiday for OHS president Romany Runnells who was working with several animals in the charity’s care over the long weekend. Runnells answered the phone and explained that if Jensen could get the cat to Spall and Harvey Veterinary Hospital in the next 30 minutes the cat could be helped.
Despite being in the middle of cooking a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, Jensen made her way to Kelowna.
Following treatment, the vet checked the cat’s tattoo and microchip which was traced back to Newton Vet Clinic in Surrey.
The information was current and that tattoo connected the vet, along with OHS, to a family living in Lake Country.
“If we hadn’t answered that call this kitty would have likely been released and no reunion would have occurred,” said Runnells.
Chloe, who is nine years old, had slipped away from her home on Robinson Road in Lake Country just over a year and a half ago and was only kilometre from her home when Jensen found her.
Chloe was reunited with her family, who she recognized right away. Once safe at home the kitty reportedly ate a full meal and went right back to her usual sleeping spot.
When Jensen heard of the reunion she was astonished the cat had been missing for over a year and yet found so close to her home.
“When I found out, she was reunited with her owners I was shocked, I was in tears,” said Jensen. “A whole year, gone. I am still crying.”
Thankfully Chloe the cat, had a wishbone of luck, that Monday with Jensen spotting her and OHS answering the call when help was needed.
OHS is a volunteer-run and non-government-funded charity that has been helping local, lost and abandoned animals for more than 26 years in the Okanagan Valley.
OHS relies solely on donations to help animals like Chloe in times of need, visit okanaganhumanesociety.com for more info.
Chloe at Spall and Harvey Vet. (OHS)
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