Meet Oliver. He’s not my cat, but he showed up at my door recently and he’s helping me tell a story.

Oliver

I live in a wildlife corridor, on the edge of a forest-y U.S. National Park. This means I see a lot of wildlife in my yard. Sometimes I need to intervene, or drive wildlife to get care if they show up injured or orphaned in my yard.

Cats, like Oliver, also often appear in my yard. There’s been at least 10 random cats, I know of, that have appeared in my yard since I’ve lived here. Some of these cats, like Oliver, live in my neighborhood. They sneak out, or are let out and find their way to our yard, lured by lots of birdy sounds, evidence of chipmunks and mice, and lots of places to hide.

Oliver’s owner lived just a few blocks away. His owner was instrumental in me getting Oliver home quickly because Oliver had a collar with his name and owner’s phone number on it.  After one phone call and one text, Oliver was on his way home.

It hasn’t always been so easy to reunite the random cats we get in our yard and their owners because in most cases there’s no collar or ID.  So, I’ve had to make a few trips over the years to the local humane society after the cats stayed too long and were threatening our native wildlife.

I always give the cats a chance to show whether they’re used to humans and approachable. If they are, that’s an important sign that they could be someone’s pet or are at least OK being around humans.

Several years ago, a very friendly cat appeared in our yard during the middle of winter. He appeared healthy, but had no collar. It was winter, but he didn’t want to come indoors. I took his photo and posted it on a local neighborhood email group to see if anyone knew where he belonged. Nothing. I starting leaving food outside, not just for his survival but to build trust and use food to eventually get him inside. After a couple of weeks he came into the house with the promise of food.

Once he was comfortable in the house, I was able to handle him easily. I took him to a Vet so he could be checked out and scanned for a chip. He was a very loving cat, knew how to use a litter box, and so I knew this had to be someone’s pet. The Vet found a chip, and on that same day, the Vet was able to locate and contact the owner. The owner left work and came immediately to the Vet’s office. I learned that Rex - the name of this hero cat - had been missing for 6 months and lived 4 miles from where he traveled to my yard.

It’s a vast understatement to say the owner was elated. She was in complete disbelief, emotionally overwhelmed, having decided long ago that her sweet Rex was gone for good. Lost pets are heart-breaking not only for owners, but also to finders like me who don’t have a clue where the pet belongs. Not everyone has the time, patience or resources to track down a lost pet’s owner. Well-marked pet collars and chips make a difference in many cases.