Lost Cat Takes Wee Bit Of A Journey Tiny Cat Treks 132 Miles From Nevada To Find Owners
Wee Widdle, a striped alley cat, disappeared in Jackpot, Nev. Thirtyfive days later, she trudged on raw paws into the embrace of her anxious family in Mountain Home.
Jackpot and Mountain Home are 95 miles apart. But if Wee Widdle followed highways via Twin Falls, she walked 132 miles.
“The odds against this happening are up in the millions, and way worse than the odds on the roulette wheel,” owner Frank Pfeiffer said Thursday.
Wee Widdle’s adventure began April 25. Pfeiffer, a retired farmer and Los Angeles police captain, and his wife, Rosemary, both 77, were returning from their annual winter sojourn in Texas and Las Vegas.
They parked their van and trailer in the Horseshu casino parking lot so she could play blackjack, and then drove back to their rural place three miles south of Mountain Home.
Only then did they discover Wee Widdle was missing from her customary spot under the blanket in the van. They figured their beloved cat had squeezed out a window that was open just a crack.
The couple immediately drove back to Jackpot and enlisted help. Casino dealers called out in the night for Wee Widdle. The sheriff drove the streets, but reported not even a dead cat.
The couple went back to Mountain Home the next day for a picture of the 3-year-old feline. They printed up 60 posters offering a $50 reward, and drove back to post them in Jackpot - along a route they had traveled several times with the cat.
There still was no word.
The couple had adopted Wee Widdle as a kitten from the Idaho Humane Society in Boise.
“You could hold her in the palm of your hand,” Rosemary Pfeiffer said. “When you get to be almost 80 years old, a cat is one of the family.”
Last Tuesday night, Rosemary Pfeiffer heard a familiar meow outside.
“She ran in between my legs, and rolled over and started meowing.”
Wee Widdle, once fat, had lost 40 percent of her weight, and her claws were worn down from the trek.
“She’s eating like mad now,” she said.