Long-lost feline turns up after seven years
Part of her right ear is missing and her whiskers are lopsided. Where have you been Sarah?
“That’s the $50,000 question,” said Judy Polley, who received a call from SCRAPS the week after Thanksgiving.
“We have your cat,” the caller said.
“Cat, what cat?”
“Sarah.”
“But she’s been gone for seven years.”
Polley went to SCRAPS and there was Sarah still wearing a black collar which, when new, was a bright baby blue. “Cats don’t normally keep their collars on that long,” said program manager Patricia Simonet. “Usually they snag on something and break free.”
SCRAPS employees were able to track down Sarah’s owners with the tags that came from the facility. “I’m thrilled they got their cat back,” said SCRAPS director Nancy Hill, “I can’t stress enough the importance of licensing your pets. The cost of licensing is also an investment in the community as it helps pay for spay and neutering vouchers and operation costs.”
Sarah was picked up less than two miles from Polley’s home in Greenacres; she was wearing a collar after all and had to belong to someone. Sarah’s true owner, Kristin Polley, was at Eastern Washington University where she’s a junior. Kristin Polley, 20, had gotten Sarah as a gift on her fifth or sixth birthday. When she came home from college the week after Thanksgiving her mother sent her to her room. “Go to your room, young lady!” Sarah was there to greet her. “I screamed and started bawling. It was Sarah all right,” said Kristin Polley. “A little smelly and scruffy looking, but Sarah.”
Sarah is 14 now and knows she’s home. “When I brought her into the house it was like she said, ‘I’m home,’ ” said Judy Polley. Sarah is just as loving. The only difference is her eating habits. She’s a little skittish when it comes to eating. She keeps looking over her shoulder for signs of danger and is much more willing to eat when a human is supervising.
The Polleys surmise that Sarah’s departure may have been prompted by two new cats, Skeeter and Scooter. They didn’t like Sarah and picked on her relentlessly. Sarah began spending more and more time away until she disappeared seven years ago. Skeeter and Scooter are still around, still hissing and growling at the sight of Sarah, and Sarah, who has toughened up a bit, gives it right back.
Now Sarah spends most of her time in Kristin Polley’s room, warm, safe and away from danger. She wears a bright pink collar and has matching accessories, and she may be heading off to college. “We’ll figure something out so she can retire in style,” Kristin Polley said as she held Sarah.