Category: News and Views
Posted 1/8/2006 4:19 PM
Cat that disappeared in 2004 tornado returns home
HALLAM, Neb. (AP) — The Tighe family had long ago written off Harley the cat
as dead.
He was 8 years old when he went missing. He was declawed. And he disappeared
in the May 22, 2004, tornado.
And even if he had survived the storm, which claimed the Tighe home, he
wasn't a very nice cat, Sue Tighe said. She didn't think he'd find anyone
willing
to take care of him.
Somehow, though, Harley made it. On Monday, he came home.
Tighe's grown daughter Samantha Tighe saw a big orange-and-white tabby cat
at the edge of the yard. She called his name.
He ran to her, meowing the chirpy meow she remembered.
She got out his baby pictures to double-check his markings, the width of his
stripes, the white marks on his face. They all lined up.
But she didn't need those to prove it was him.
"As soon as he started running and meowing, I knew it was him," Samantha
said.
Sue got Harley as a 4-week-old kitten. She gave him to her son Shaun, who
was then 10.
And the story gets even better.
Shaun, who's 20 now, is in the Army National Guard. He's been stationed at
Camp Shelby in Mississippi since October and likely will be deployed to Iraq
in March.
Shaun got to come home for Christmas. The night before he left, his cat came
home. For 45 minutes, Shaun just sat outside and petted him, Sue said.
It was like Harley knew he'd be there, she said.
Harley came back in remarkably good health, said Jeremiah Vondra, a Crete
veterinarian who treated Harley after his return. The only problem seemed to
be
earmites.
"I think he used his nine lives up," Vondra said.
Sue Tighe wonders how he kept safe all that time. And she wishes she knew
what he's been up to.
"Where has he been? What's he been doing for the past year and a half? It's
just weird," she said. "But we're glad he's home."
It never seizes to amaze me how intelligent animals are. They're wonderful creatures.
yes they are. and awww think how happy the family must be feeling now
awwww, that is such a cool story. and, it's so nice to know, that with so many people dieing every day, that a cat has enough ingenuity to make it home.
and, this is not a sarcastic remark.