Family Reunites with Cat Ten Years and One Wildfire Later Thanks To Microchip
1010 WINS-After 10 years apart, this family has finally been reunited with their furry friend.
Jennifer Leigh Thompson's indoor/outdoor cat "Pilot" would come home every night like clockwork, she says, until one night he just disappeared. 10 years later, Thompson got a call that her cat had been hospitalized and they were able to contact her thanks to his microchip.
To cover the cost of his surgeries, she started a GoFundMe page and raised over $6,000 to take care of him.
On the page, Jennifer explains how Pilot's disappearance devastated her family. Quite frisky and friendly, Pilot loved kids, loved to play in the water, and enthusiastically followed the family around. 10 years after his disappearance, Pilot was found severely burned in the Tubbs fire in Santa Rosa, California this past fall by a good Samaritan who took him to a veterinary hospital for treatment. It was there that he was scanned for a microchip and Jennifer was located.
See Also: 'Kemper' the Scarf Cat Is Looking For a Forever Neck To Warm This Winter
Jennifer and her husband, who now live in Colorado, were able to fly out to California to be reunited with Pilot and cover his extensive hospital bills -- all thanks to the generosity of others.
In an update provided on their donation page, Jennifer offers her thanks for all of the love and support her family has received and says Pilot continues to improve. He is now bandage-free and starting to get off of the pain meds.
"We are so lucky to have some amazing vets and their staff who have given him the best care we could ask for," Jennifer says. "We are so blessed. Thank you for your kindness. It means everything to our family."
Jennifer also says Pilot has started to get along with the other family cats and has even been spotted napping beside them.
This fly-by-night feline finally got his well-deserved happy ending!
-Joe Cingrana
