Lost Regina cat reunited with family almost one year later

A Regina family is reminding people never to lose hope in finding a lost pet, after being reunited with their cat almost a year after he went missing.

Last July, Susan Dobson says her daughter’s black and white, long-haired cat, Moo, snuck out of the house. In the weeks after, she said the whole family hit the pavement by foot and car, searching for the feline. But they always came up short.

“Because he’d been gone so long and it was such a bitter cold winter, we were worried that – if he was outside – he probably wouldn’t come home,” she remembered thinking.

While the neighbourhood searches tapered off, Dobson said she never stopped checking with the Humane Society and Regina’s Lost and Found Cats Facebook page, which is where she noticed a picture of Moo on Saturday and recognized him instantly. From there, she made plans to meet up with the woman who found him.

“I cried. I was so happy – just so happy to see him. I was surprised and I just had such a good feeling,” she said of the reunion. “As soon as he went home, he went right to his favourite place; he slept above my daughter’s head that night, which is where he always slept. He knew he was home.”

Though a few pounds lighter, Moo’s fur wasn’t matted, so Dobson said she thinks someone looked after him over the winter months.

It also appears the eight-year-old cat didn’t stray too far from home; Moo went missing from the Gladmer Park townhouses across from Wascana Park and was found near the General Hospital.

Dobson calls the reunion an “Easter miracle.”

“I just think he’s meant to be ours,” she said. “He’s just so much a part of our family and I just knew deep down that, if he was around, he’d make it back to us somehow.”

Cats often tougher to reunite with owners versus dogs

Jennifer Berg runs the lost and found Facebook pages for both dogs and cats in Regina. She says she’s amazed by this reunion because she finds it’s not as common with cats as it is for dogs.

“When people see a dog running loose, they think, ‘Oh, that dog is lost and we need to find its home,’ whereas when you see a cat running loose, most just dismiss it as the neighbourhood cat,” Berg explained.

“I’m really happy that these owners decided to keep looking and kept their eyes out – that’s excellent.”

Berg urges pet owners to get their animals microchipped and/or tattooed. That way, if they ever get lost, whoever finds them can take them to a veterinary clinic to get scanned.