"Next time I fly, I would like to upgrade to coach..."
Posted on 01/23/2008 8:18:12 AM PST by marthemaria
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Some kitty math: How many lives did little tabby Gracie Mae use up when she crawled into her owner's suitcase, went through an airport X-ray machine, got loaded onto a plane, thrown onto a baggage belt and mistakenly picked up by a stranger far from home?
"She's got to be at four or five now," Seth Levy said after his 10-month-old pet was returned Sunday night by a kind stranger who went home to Fort Worth, Texas, with the wrong bag and Gracie inside to boot.
The last time Levy's wife, Kelly, saw Gracie was before she took her husband to the airport. The 24-year-old went back to her house in Palm Beach Gardens late Friday to find the bottom step, where Gracie would usually be waiting, empty.
She tore the house apart looking for the cat, who had been spayed just days before. She and her dad took out bathroom tiles and part of a cabinet to check a crawl space and papered the neighborhood with "lost cat" signs.
Then she got a phone call.
"Hi, you're not going to believe this, but I am calling from Fort Worth, Texas, and I accidentally picked up your husband's luggage. And when I opened the luggage, a cat jumped out," Kelly Levy quoted the caller saying.
Rob Carter said he made it home with the suitcase before realizing it wasn't his — and there was a big surprise inside.
"I went to unpack and saw some of the clothes and saw it wasn't my suitcase," he said. "I was going to close it, and a kitten jumped out and ran under the bed. I screamed like a little girl."
Carter said that he eventually was able to get the cat to come out from under the bed.
"In the morning, I got close enough to see its collar and the phone number on it," he said. "So I called the number and got a hold of the crying wife of the traveler."
The tabby made the 1,300-mile trip home on an $80 plane ticket. Carter said he considered keeping the cat before he knew she had a home.
"We were going to name it Suitcase," he said.
I just read this on yahoo. Heartwarming on a very cold day.
I love kitties.
That would be a welcome addition to most flights.
Instead of being stuck next to a GIANT fat person, you’d actually have some elbow room sitting next to a cat.
Kitty ping.
Bet that suitcase really had a bad smell
That is a sweet story with a very happy ending. :),
I once adopted two cats many years ago, one male and one female that I named “George” and “Gracie” after George Burns and Gracie Allen.
Cats just love to crawl into small spaces like suitcases and closets and dresser drawers.
I have a cat now, Willie the Wonder Cat who loves to dive into my laundry basket of clean and neatly folded clothes. He especially likes to lay on my dark colored sweaters just so he can shed on them ;).
He also likes diving into any open dresser drawer, bookcase, closet and occasionally an open refrigerator.
I can’t count how many times I’ve gotten out of the shower to find Willie has pulled down my towel and is laying on it waiting for me to get out.
I understand that cats (and dogs) like to sleep and lay on our clothes because they like to be close to our scent.
I love cats. I think because our behavioral characteristics - mine and theirs - are similar ... but enough said about that.
I had to bring my two kittens in this morning for spaying. After the vet examined the first, he asked me if the other was also a female — Huh?????. LOL. I’m sure after he thought about what he had asked he probably felt stupid.
We all sometimes say stupid things. Have you read read the candidate threads lately? LOL!
awwwww kittah bkmark.
My Siamese loves to crawl into suitcases when they are brought out. My wife always says he wants to come with us. Might be true, but I worry about him stowing away like the kitty in the story............
We got a cat one time from some friends who assured us it was a female, so we did not examine it carefully - it was longhaired so nothing was obvious...it turned out to be a male which meant we had to have some quick surgery done since our other new kitten was a female.
Our kitties are so accustomed to comfort it's hard to imagine them living on mice and cockroaches for months, but who knows. They've never managed to stow away, but they sure love to sit in our suitcases whenever someone is packing for a trip. Our calico is so fond of warm cozy spaces that she crawls under the covers to snuggle up at night. To look at the top of the bedcovers, you'd never know she was there under several layers of blankets and a down comforter. I occasionally warn our kids not to go jumping on beds unless they know where the cats are!
You let the cat out of the bag!!!
Our clothes are their property. They just want to make sure we know.
Oh, for cute!
We had a cat that LOVED to crawl in my old Dart and hang out, but whenever I would start it the cat would bolt.
So methinks maybe kitty would like to take a drive around.
1 - Rolled up windows.
2- Started car.
Did not, repeat NOT, try that again.
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