Posted on 12/06/2013 1:02:06 PM PST by nickcarraway
A Fremont family was reunited with their cat today three years after he went missing, Fremont police said.
A reunion with Dasher, known as Dash, and his original owners took place at the Tri-City Animal Shelter this afternoon after the cat was brought into the shelter earlier this week.
Dash, believed to be a stray, was brought in by a new homeowner who said she found out there was an orange tabby that lived near her house.
The seller had told the new owner she had been feeding the cat for three years but she thought it was the neighbor's cat.
The new owner brought the cat to the shelter when the cat came to her house expecting to be fed and appeared to be homeless, police said.
The cat had a microchip, which gave shelter staff contact information for his original owners.
Staff got in touch with the family, who said their cat Dash had disappeared three years ago after they moved from San Jose to Fremont.
The cat was last seen by family members on May 5, 2010, near Dondero Way in Fremont. The family had put together a search effort for several weeks, but never found the cat.
At the shelter, located at 1950 Stevenson Blvd., cat and owner snuggled this afternoon after the more than three-year separation.
Can I assume that this cat hated that family?
Many do, some have made their way across the country to go home.
They can find their way home. However, the new home the family had moved to was not yet “home” to the cat. When you move you need to keep the cat indoors for at least a month so it establishes the new place as its home. Then when it goes out it won’t feel like it is in a strange area and try go go back to its former home. It is very common for people to lose cats right after a move.
That or the wrong food..
If my cats leave,, go and dont come back .
Just deduct half of one of those nine lives, and congratulations! Cats are territorial, one of mine owns two acres in the country, two families and two houses...with a number of outbuildings. Imagine how he would feel if he was taken out of his 'property' - he would be devastated and immediately attempt to find his way back.
He’s absolutely gorgeous. I love a happy ending!
A very pretty kitty.
Not reported is the comment from the cat: "Who the hell are these people?"
If he were mine I would name him SPUNKY.
When I was a very young child, we had a cat like him, my mother named him “Tiger”.
He would come and go! (We lost him when I was around age 10.)
Spunky would be a great name for that boy.
Aw, I bet he was adorable.
I love me some big orange tabbies. Is it me, or do the males tend to get really big and strong?
I always recommend orange tomcats to folks who aren’t sure they’ll like a cat. They’re USUALLY very affectionate and mellow.
LOL at “usually.”
Birds gotta fly, cats gotta show temper now and then, LOL.
Oh my goodness, what a handsome fellow! I just can’t help myself, I love ginger cats! Sweet, smart, and loaded with personality.
The new homeowner brought the cat to the shelter probably because they didn’t want to have to feed the cat? This is after the home sellers told them they had been feeding the cat for 3 years?
Weird. Wish I knew the homeowner’s real motive.....shelters in our area are death sentences if not adopted right away.
“I thought cats were supposed to be able to find their way home over hundreds of miles, through uncharted territory.”
The family MOVED and didn’t give the cat their new address.
Poor fellow, he’s been let outside too soon after his owners moved, ran away looking for his old territory, realised he was lost, made a new home for himself independantly and found a kind soul who fed him for three years. Along come the new owners, they pick him up and take him to an animal shelter as a stray, (he didn’t think he was a stray did he now?) and if he hadn’t had a chip, he might be over the rainbow bridge by now.
His troubles aren’t over however, if his owners now let him outside too early again, he’ll be looking for the territory he was recently ‘rescued’ from...because territory is far more important to an animal than the people who think they own it.
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