Ginger’s Back. Timmy Too. Thank You!

Ginger’s Back. Timmy Too. Thank You!

Oh yeah peeps… a story with a happy ending... two happy endings actually! You see, along the way we catnapped another kitty.

Ginger was last seen on September 23rd. He's (Yes, Ginger is a dude… kind of…he’s neutered.) a 9 year old indoor/outdoor cat who hangs out around the home. The longest he'd ever been away from home was just spending a night outside. After he was missing for a few days my wife posted some signs around town. I added a post to Madison Patch. I got a call saying that Ginger was seen on Anthony Drive on 9/23 or 9/24. We looked for him over there. Nothing. I posted some more missing signs in our neighborhood.

Then on Sunday, 9/29 we got a call from a Kathy who saw a cat resembling Ginger crossing Rosedale and Fairview. Not too far from Anthony Drive. We were in Connecticut at the time, so we called our neighbors Chris and Kristen who headed over to take a look. No lie, five minutes later we got a call from Chris saying that she had Ginger. She sent a pic to us via cell. It was him! We got home. Ginger was hiding under the couch. I moved the couch and took a look at him, and sumthin' didn't seem quite right. His face looked a different... a little smushy like a Persian. I thought the guy might of had a bad week. Then I remembered that Ginger was missing a couple of teeth and sure enough this cat had all his/her teeth. So 9 pm Sunday night, I drove over to Fairview where the cat was found and a woman had her door open. She was looking for her cat who had been missing since the early afternoon. Her kids were very upset because their cat, Timmy, always came in at dusk. Timmy's mom thought I was going to tell her that something bad had happened to her cat when I asked her if she'd seen a cat like Ginger as shown in the flyer that I was holding. Nope. I told her that I thought that I had her cat. She came to pick little Timmy up. She was thrilled and so were her kids, but still no Ginger.

Over the next week I received calls about possible sightings at Riverbend in Florham Park, and Wilson Lane and Maple Ave in Madison. The description of the cat seen at Riverbend didn’t seem like an exact match because the woman that called said that she’d been feeding the cat since last summer. Riverbend is damn far from where we live, over 3 miles. So, I doubted that he’d travel 6 miles round trip on a regular basis. However, we had restricted Ginger’s diet over the past year as the vet said he was obese, plus the caller described the cat as “magnificent” so maybe there was a rare chance that it was our cat. I took a drive by and didn’t see him. On Wilson Lane, Andy’s neighbor had found a cat and had been asking the neighbors who it belonged to. They kept the cat in a box in front of their house. My wife headed over to the house on Wilson Lane. No cat in the box. (Alice in Chains anyone?) The owner did share the pics of the cat on her cell phone. No match. Over on Maple Ave, Diane who saw our ad in Stop & Shop called and indicated that she’d seen a cat similar to Ginger running from her driveway toward Maple Ave. This cat had a collar and tags. Ginger had lost his. I thought, maybe someone had already taken him in and given him a collar because he’s such a good boy? I took a walk around the neighborhood. Nothing.

I had begun talking to my wife about doing a little memorial thing for Ginger… a tree in our backyard or something. We weren’t going to see him again. My daughter didn’t really like the idea I proposed that another family had adopted him and the alternate thought that he was dead didn’t go over too well either. But, we couldn’t just ignore the fact forever that Ginger wasn’t around.

Then I got a call tonight. I was in Whole Foods and a 646 # came through on my phone. I assumed it was for work, so I wasn’t about to answer. Then I did, and a woman said that she thought that she’d seen my cat. I asked, “Where?” She said, “Next to Wells Fargo. Across from Main Streets Subs.” I really doubted that this was Ginger. It’d been two and a half weeks since Ginger had last been seen. I walked out of Whole Foods still on the phone and asked, “Does the cat have a collar?” She replied, “No.” I asked, “Does he have a huge, fluffy white tail?” She stated, “Yes.” I thought, “Well, just maybe it is him.” I ran toward Wells Fargo and two women and a guy were standing outside. They indicated that the cat was in the alley to the right of Wells Fargo and left of the stream. It was dark in that area, and I could see the silhouette of a cat. I called, “Ginger” and he didn’t come running. I walked toward him and he came close then skittered away. I walked slowly toward him and then grabbed him. He kept trying to wriggle out of my arms. Once on the sidewalk where there was more lighting, I could clearly see that it was Ginger! The two women, named Annabelle and Emily were crying because they were so happy and the guy, Dirk was smiling. I thanked them and got their address too so that I can send them a little thank you. I threw Ginger in the car. When I got home, our five year old daughter saw me first as I headed up the stairs and asked unbelievably, “Is that Ginger????” Then my wife was like, “Where did you find him?”

My family is thrilled. And so is Ginger. He’s purring on my lap right now as I write this. I think our other cat Ninja is pissed though. He was getting used to being the only kitty in da hizzouse.

Well, thought it would be nice to share good news. We thought Ginger was a goner. I guess the moral of the story is if you have pets, keep tags on ‘em, chip ‘em, and if they ever go lost, missing pet postings work. They really work if you live in a town with as much caring and awesome people as in Madison! I did get a call from Florham Park, so you ain’t that bad either.

Thanks again to everyone and special shout-outs to Dirk, Anabelle, and Emily!