Woman Reunites with Cat That Went Missing 11 Years Ago
After Sam Sam the Kittycat Man went missing 11 years ago, Jennifer Ravenel couldn't hold another cat in her lap.
But Sam is now back in Ravenel's lap, thanks to her decision to have a microchip put in him.
Charleston County Animal Control found Sam earlier in August, very thin and eating bits of food from a feral colony not far from Ravenel's home. His microchip was scanned, and Ravenel got a nearly unbelievable phone call.
She said she'd thought the workers at the Charleston Animal Society were playing a prank on her.
"But this is a miracle in itself," she told them.
They took Ravenel to the room where Sam was being kept. She cried as soon as she saw him. Once everyone was sure Sam was OK, Ravenel got to hold her cat again.
"I haven't held a cat since he left — 11 years — because it broke my heart," she said in a video.
Sam weighed about 6.8 kilograms when he went missing, and half that when he was found, said Kay Hyman from the Animal Society.
Ravenel first found Sam in a feral colony after hearing quiet meows from a tree. He sat in her lap and followed her around the farm.
But about two years later, her dog scared Sam away, and she couldn't find him.
"I searched and searched the woods. I asked everybody that lived around us, and nobody saw him," Ravenel told society workers.
Finding Sam wouldn't have been possible without the microchip placed just under his skin. The Animal Society said it shows how important it is to have that kind of permanent identification for pets.
Ravenel said Sam is spending most of his time on her bed and does not want to go back outside.
