Tux is my 5 1/2 year old big fat tuxedo cat. I bottle fed him from 2 weeks of age. He was a declawed indoor cat but I had him microchipped anyway. He only went outside a few minutes at a time and with my supervision. He had never left the yard.I never thought I would need it. Boy was I wrong.

After dinner one night, my husband was letting our dogs out for their bedtime potty break at 11 pm. I don't know what got into him but Tux barreled out the door as the dogs were going out. It was 20 degrees so we figured he would be ready to come in with the dogs. He wasn't.

We immediately began searching. We walked all over the neighborhood calling and shaking treats. We drove around with a flashlight looking and called every hour through out the night. I notified home again and a lost pet alert was sent out. We looked for weeks. I put up signs and went to every vet office and pet store in the area with my own flyers. I hand distributed 450 flyers to every home within a few miles. I posted newspaper ads. I got plenty of calls about found black and white cats, but none of them were Tux.

45 days passed. Since no one had even reported seeing him, I assumed the worse. It had been bitter cold and I knew he lacked the survival skills to survive that long.

Then I got a voicemail from someone saying they had my cat. I didn't get excited. I was sure they saw my ad and had some random cat. I called them back, thanking them for my kindness and explaining that my cat had been missing too long to be alive. The man said, NO, this really is your cat! He had just been scanned at a local clinic and it really was Tux.

They immediately dropped him off at my house. He had showed up a few days prior their home several miles away. I had not even looked that far away. He was no longer my fat cat as he had lost 1/3 of his body weight but otherwise he looked great! 45 days on the run and Tux was finally home! I couldn't believe it! The only reason he had made it back was because of his microchip! A big hurrah for HomeAgain. I never imagined my indoor cat would get lost but it happened and he made it hiome thanks to HomeAgain!

Posted By: Jessica Rountree, Columbia, SC - 1/20/2009
Pet Name: Tux  Species: Cat  Breed: DSH  Sex: Male