Kindness of Strangers Reunites Missing Elderly Cat and Family

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When they say that cats have nine lives, they count the numerous close shaves they have before finally breathing their last. Such narrow escapes could be through divine intervention such as the kindness of strangers reuniting an elderly cat and family, which was the case of Bugaboo. For an entire month, Bugaboo’s family had no idea where the beloved pet had disappeared to, but a scroll through social media saw the lost cat get back home safely. Let’s tell you the details of how Bugaboo was reunited with his family and how the strangers’ kindness helped him survive.

Escape Death by a Whisker

Bugaboo had probably given up hope of ever going back home, but two strangers intervened. The cat could have been looking for food or water when he wound up on the property of a couple, Maryann and Mike, in Wilson, New York. One look at the cat, and the couple knew they had to take action; Bugaboo was frail, with matted fur. So they rushed him to Ten Lives Club, a shelter in Blasdell, New York, and that is an hour away from where the couple lives. On arrival at the shelter, the staff saw that Bugaboo’s life was hanging by a thread, so they gave him fluids and vaccines. They later said that had Maryanne and Mike not taken the cat to the shelter when they did, the feline would have died. Bugaboo got a new name, Smokey Rose, while at the shelter where he recuperated. As soon as he had regained his health, Ten Lives Club held an Empty the Shelters event where Smokey Rose’s photo was shared, ready to be adopted.

Fate conspired to have Bugaboo’s owner, Mason Rounds, scroll through the shelter’s website at that particular moment when Smokey Rose’s photo was posted online. To his surprise, Rounds recognized the cat as Bugaboo, and as published by Yahoo, he contacted the shelter, telling them it was his cat that got lost a month ago. As proof, he showed them pictures of Bugaboo before he went missing. Although the pictures that Rounds shared showed a cat with silky and fluffy fur, the damage that living on the streets had done could still not be enough to make the cat unrecognizable. So the owner went to pick up the pet the following day. Lessons have been learned about wandering far away from home, and Rounds, who always liked to give Bugaboo some freedom, will keep him indoors. The Ten Lives Club public relations manager, Kimberly LaRussa, said that the shelter staff works hard to help the stray animals. Still, their efforts were well worth it when animals are reunited with their owners or find forever homes.

Not the First Time for Strangers to Save the Day

One act of kindness can save an animal’s life as it did for Dooley. According to NBC Connecticut, Dooley’s owners, Moones and her husband, adopted Dooley while they were living in Florida. When the family decided it was time to move back to Connecticut in 2016, Dooley found the chance to go on a big adventure thus escaped while they were in Madison. For three years, he was missing, and even the desperate attempts such as posting flyers and his pictures on social media were not enough to reunite him with his family. Still, Moones could not bear to part with some of his belongings, hoping that someday, her heart would heal and she would get another cat. In July 2019, a stranger saw Dooley roaming the streets and called animal control, seeing that the feline looked hungry and concluded it was homeless. The animal control officer who responded to the situation saw Dooley and could not shake the feeling that he looked familiar. After browsing through the Facebook posts for missing pets, sure enough, it was Dooley. The officer contacted Mooney, who asked them to scan the microchip she had installed in the cat to be sure it was her beloved Dooley. After the reunion, Moones was told that there must have been another stranger caring for Dooley; otherwise, the winter weather would have killed him. Besides, he was not flea-infested, which further cemented the belief that someone out there had taken in the stray and shown him some love.

Missing Cats Take a Piece of Their Owners with Them

Laken Read was only four years old when her family got her Muffins and another cat. They grew up together, and Read explained to ABC 11 that Muffins had become her best friend. The family had lived in the same house for 16 years, so when they moved to a new one in Fuquay-Varina, Muffins must have felt confused. Even if she tried familiarizing herself with the new neighborhood, her old age would not allow her to get far. Unfortunately, one day Reads came back home and could not find Muffins. Hurricane Matthew had struck in North Carolina, and she worried that Muffins would not survive. Their frantic efforts that included knocking on neighbors’ doors, were futile. Weeks turned into months and months into years but Read never lost hope of finding Muffins alive. While others gave up on the cat, saying she was too old and had probably died, the owner could feel that she was still breathing. Indeed she was right because Muffins had become an outdoor cat, and a new family would feed her, thinking she was a stray. When they thought the cat was having seizures, they took her to the vet, where they discovered a microchip that helped them reunite Muffins with Read’s family. It was an emotional moment for Read, whose mother took her to the vet clinic to meet her long-lost cat. Muffins could not have been found at a better time; when he went missing, Read was going through a tough time and felt lonely without her best friend. Four years had passed, and the 20-year-old cat now needed Read more than ever due to the ailing health. What the cat owner learned from the experience was the importance of having pets microchipped, and she hoped her story would inspire pet owners to do the same.

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