CANADA – A long year-and-a-half after their cat Will disappeared, a family in P.E.I. was surprised to see their pet just sitting in the yard waiting for them to come home.
“I didn’t believe it was him,” stated owner Norma Moore-Dingwell. “When I realized it was, I cried.”
She took Will in to be seen by veterinarian David Lister at the New Perth Animal Hospital to have him checked out after his return.
“I think they had long thought they were never going to see Will again,” Lister said to Island Morning.
In very good shape
Will was indeed thin, had lost part of his ear — probably to frost bite — and had picked up some ear mites, but other than that, Lister said he was in very good shape.
“The condition of this fellow, he certainly hadn’t been living in a home and probably hadn’t really been in a barn where there was food,” stated Lister.
“He’d just have to live on what he was catching, and he obviously caught enough to survive.”
Will lost part of his ear and a lot of weight, but was otherwise in good shape. (New Perth Animal Hospital/Facebook)
Will had disappeared during a bad snowstorm last winter, and Lister said those winter months would have been especially challenging.
Soaking up all the love
But his time on the streets doesn’t seem to have hardened Will.
“He seemed quite friendly. He hadn’t reverted back to being a feral cat,” stated Lister. “He was taking all the attention he could get — chin rubs and head rubs.”
The missing cat doesn’t always come back
“The cat came back” is a familiar refrain, but Lister went on to explain that it’s not very common to hear of cats returning — especially after that length of time.
“You do hear about them once in a while, but a year-and-a-half is getting to be a long time,” he concluded.
