“I really think my mother brought her to me so she wouldn’t die alone in the woods.”
“It was all too much for our little body. Then it just became clear to me that she came back to us because my mom wanted to make sure she was safe and comfy when she passed…
Jenifer Banis believes that her deceased mother guided her long lost cat back to her family before death so that she could die in the comfort of her family’s surroundings.
Jenifer’s mother originally cared for this little calico cat and when she died she asked that Miss Kitty be cared for by her daughter. That was in 2007. Miss Kitty vanished from Topsham in late summer 2009, and to this day no one knows where she’s been.
However, Miss Kitty was picked up by an animal control officer, Jeff Cooper, in Durham, Maine, last week. He was surprised to find that she was microchip and they were therefore able to reunite her with Jenifer and her family. Miss Kitty was clearly was in a bad way, emaciated, flea-infested and her health was typical it seems to me of a cat who has lived outside against the odds. The officer had been notified of Miss Kitty’s presence by a resident of Old Brunswick Road, Durham:
“She said a cat had been hanging around her house for the last two days and wouldn’t leave. She had been putting food out for her. She said the cat was very thin and seemed to be deaf.” – Jeff Cooper animal control officer speaking of the woman who spotted Miss Kitty
Miss Kitty was found about 8 miles from Jennifer’s home. At this time Miss Kitty was 16 years of age. She was taken to a veterinary clinic in Portland where she underwent surgical treatment for a tracheotomy to repair a collapsed larynx.
Miss Kitty improved and came home last Sunday. The family was delighted but her health declined quite quickly and it appears that her veterinarian recommended that she be euthanised as she was suffering from pneumonia and other age-related illnesses from which she could not recover.
Jennifer said that she was glad that her children had had the opportunity to meet Miss Kitty.
Source: Portland Herald Press via Metro.co.uk (in the UK). See fund raising page for medical bill.
