Kansas Cat Found 1,200 Miles Away in North Carolina 10 Years After He Went Missing
The cat's owner learned her long-lost pet was found on the birthday of her late father
A missing cat from Wichita, Kansas, was found a decade after he disappeared, and — in a Wizard of Oz-like twist — he was not in Kansas anymore!
Carol Holmes' cat, Bob, left her yard 10 years ago and disappeared until this summer.
On Aug. 19, the birthday of Holmes' late father, she received an unexpected email informing her that the feline, who is named after Holmes' dad, had been found 1,200 miles from home in North Carolina, according to a GoFundMe Holmes started to help cover Bob's trip back to Kansas.
Homles added on her GoFundMe page that she had the tuxedo cat for about four months before he vanished ten years ago.
"He enjoyed hanging outdoors with my other two cats in our yard and canvassing the neighborhood on daily excursions," the pet parent wrote alongside the fundraiser. "One day, he didn't come back with the other two boys."
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The Wichita resident said she searched "high and low" and plastered flyers everywhere in an effort to locate Bob the cat, but her attempts to find the feline were fruitless.
"No luck," she wrote. "Until ten years later!"
On what would have been her father's 94th birthday, Holmes said she was at home "thinking about my dad and missing him" when she happened to check her email.
She was "absolutely stunned" at what she found in her inbox.
5 Points Vet Hospital, a veterinary clinic in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, had reached out after finding Bob and using his microchip to unearth Homles' contact information.
"It was surreal," she told Wichita news station KWCH of the moment. "I was just so stunned."
"It's very unusual to find a cat when they have been gone nearly a decade," she added.
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Holmes has chalked the timing of her beloved cat's discovery to fate.
"I had spent the week prior to my [dad's] birthday thinking of him, missing him, and of course thinking about Bob, my cat!" she wrote on GoFundMe. "After all, my cat was named after my dad!"
She continued: "I had a memory of Bob sleeping next to my dog pop up on my Facebook memory feed one week prior to getting the found emails."
"I'm excited to bring him home!" she finished. "I believe he's a message heaven sent!"
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Once the kitty returns to his owner's loving home, he and Holmes have much catching up to do.
"I do wish Bob could share his story about his life the past decade!" she wrote, adding that she "can only assume he was cat-napped and moved to N.C."
According to Holmes, the N.C. animal hospital is caring for the cat while she makes arrangements with the volunteer organization Imagine Home Cat Transporter to have Bob transported back to Kansas.
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The pet parent created her online fundraiser to raise money for Bob's veterinary and transport-related expenses.
Contributors to the GoFundMe, which has now exceeded its $800 goal, shared sweet messages of support with Holmes.
"Bob needs to come home to his kitty momma!" one donor said.
"I hope you can get your kitty cat back soon!" another wrote. "Congrats on him being found!"
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