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Wednesday, May 3, 2006 · Last updated 9:57 p.m. PT
From Seattle to Sacramento -- cat's 10-year mystery
Without the microchip embedded underneath his thick black fur, there's little chance Sneakers ever would have been found.
The disappearance of the 11-year-old longhaired black cat a decade ago left his owner, Allison MacEwan, by turns sorrowful and hopeful.
Mostly, the Madison Valley woman, then of Ravenna, was persistent. Soon after the disappearance, MacEwan placed ads in newspapers and passed out fliers door to door in her neighborhood, to no avail.
"We made a full-bore effort to find the cat. But, no cat."
The case of missing Sneakers remained just that -- yet another example of a pet disappearance that leaves owners feeling frustrated and helpless.
Until last week, that is, when Sneakers resurfaced in Sacramento, Calif. MacEwan and her two daughters, then 4 and 6, had adopted Sneakers as a newborn kitten in 1995.
A year later, said MacEwan, a water resources engineer, the indoor/outdoor cat "just disappeared one day."
MacEwan never forgot about the microchip she had planted inside Sneakers to help find him should he become lost.
The cat was given to Sacramento's Animal Care Services last week. Workers scanned him for a chip, as is their usual procedure, and found MacEwan's contact information. They called her on Saturday with the news.
MacEwan was told by workers there that the second owner found Sneakers in 1998 in Seattle but subsequently moved to Sacramento. That owner called the cat Keisha, she said.
MacEwan said she and her daughters, now 14 and 16, are thrilled to get Sneakers back.
She flies to Sacramento to Saturday for the reunion.
"It was very surreal," said MacEwan about first hearing the news. "I was completely surprised. I mean, completely."
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