It’s not every day that a cat mysteriously shows up — after being gone for a whole year — more than 1,000 kilometres away from home.
But that is Birdie’s story.
Jacob Kierstead, an employee at the Oromocto and Area SPCA, said that a cat was brought into the shelter on Monday by a woman who had been feeding her, after seeing her around the neighbourhood for about six months.
Luckily, the feline had a microchip embedded under her skin.
“It’s always a huge relief when we stick the wand in the kennel … and it beeps,” said Kierstead.
He said if the microchip isn’t in the SPCA’s system, they contact the company that it’s registered with to get the location.
Birdie’s origin was traced back to Ottawa.
Kierstead said that isn’t completely unusual, as sometimes people will move, but forget to change their details. However, when they contacted Birdie’s family, they learned that she went missing from her Ottawa home a year ago.
“They were very shocked, to say the least, to hear that their cat had travelled this far and was still able to be brought back to them,” said Kierstead.
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And while no one knows for sure how she travelled so far, Kierstead said it could be that someone picked her up and brought her to Fredericton, where she escaped again.
Kierstead said upon Birdie’s arrival at the SPCA, she seemed to be in good shape, with no nicks or scratches and no fleas or ticks.
After learning about Birdie’s faraway home, Kierstead said the shelter put a call out on social media to see if anyone in the area was heading to Ontario.
That’s when a former foster parent, who now lives in Ottawa, got in touch and said she was in town visiting family and could take the cat with her.
Birdie is going home.
This story was originally published in CBC News on Aug. 13, 2024.
Hannah Rudderham Portfolio 