Stray kitten headed home from Nebraska -- to Maryland

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10508714

Published Tuesday December 9, 2008
Stray kitten headed home -- to Maryland
BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A warm and furry surprise winged its way from Omaha to a 10-year-old girl in Washington, D.C., Monday night.


Rosie was traveling cross-country with it's owner, as she relocated this past summer, when it became lost in the Omaha area.


Rosie, a tabby cat who ran away five months ago in Bellevue, was safely tucked in a kennel in the cargo compartment of Midwest Airlines Flight 2058, heading toward a most unlikely reunion with fourth-grader Ashley Miller, the person who loves Rosie most.

Ashley's mom, Air Force Sgt. Aimee Miller, planned a surprise meeting for cat and child at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, near the family's Maryland home.

"I still can't believe it," Sgt. Miller said by telephone Monday afternoon. "I'm still in shock."

She and Ashley had thought Rosie was gone for good.

And why wouldn't they?

Rosie had run away in Bellevue in mid-July. Miller was driving from Alaska to her new assignment at Fort Meade in Maryland when she stopped at a gas station near Offutt Air Force Base. Ashley and Miller's other daughter were not along. They spend summers with their dad.


FULL story at link.

[barbtries]

1. gotta crate cats

on long trips. at least in my experience. they hate riding in cars. my tonkinese is still neurotic since we came across country over a year ago.

[racaulk]

4. Totally agree.

I have a Tonkinese cat also! Even if we're just going down the street to the vet, I put her in her carrier. She absolutely HATES riding in the car, and she screams bloody murder the entire time I'm driving!

[LWolf]

6. I drove my cat 1,000 miles 4.5 years ago.

Fully intending to crate her. The problem? The crate wouldn't fit in the extra cab of my toyota truck. I couldn't put it in the front, where the dog was. It was 3am, the bed of the truck was fully crammed, houseplants were in the extra cab, and the crate was too wide to fit back there. That's what I get for wanting to give her a little more space, and buying the bigger crate. So I jury-rigged an unused litter crate that had a lid; tried to block the opening with a grill. Put the cat in the litter crate, the litter crate in the truck, "blocked" the opening, dog in the front bucket seat, and off we went.

That didn't last a mile before the cat staged a breakout and stalked onto the bucket seat in front. Finding the dog in her way, she promptly climbed on the dog, a 65 pound australian shepherd, and sat on the curled up dog, looking out the window, for the next 300 miles. When I stopped for gas, I stuffed her back in the litter crate and reinforced the grate. Walked the dog. She was out before we got back. We ended up doing the entire 1,000 miles with her perched on the dog. I was nervous at every stop, but she had no intention of leaving the truck. She never relieved herself. We drove straight through and got to our destination at about 4:30 that afternoon, where I promptly locked her, some food, water, and a fresh litter box in an upstairs bedroom before I did anything else.

The dog was too patient, having bowed before the cat's alpha position in the house since puppyhood.

[barbtries]

10. wow that's a great story

glad she stuck with you anyway.

[rvablue]

11. So cute....too bad you don't have a pic of that! n/t

[NashVegas]

12. I Started One Cat Early And Had No Troubles

Took her with me in the car as much as possible, because I'm sneaky and didn't want her to act up when we were going to the vets. Figured if the only reason she ever got in the car was to go get poked, driving would be unpleasant.

The last road trip we took was several years ago, from VT to TN, and she rode shotgun on the Ryder truck's big dashboard the whole way.

That was a damn cool cat. Much missed.

[stuntcat]

2. ((Rosie))

the "warm and furry surprise" :loveya: luckiest cat EVER. Maybe I should get my cats microchipped.

[MagickMuffin]

3. Having the chip in her ear helped find Rosie's owners

Good thing she had the chip, otherwise no telling what would have happened to her.

Rosie: "I'll be home for Christmas!"

[bdamomma]

5. what a nice story.

:-)

[meow2u3]

7. Rosie looks a lot like my Ruby

[KittyWampus]

8. Thanks, it's nice to read a happy animal story

[hamsterjill]

9. Kudos to those who helped with her return

That was a great cooperative effort to get this kitty returned. Many times, animal control facilities and even some shelters are lax about checking for microchips, so even those pets that are microchipped are many times not scanned.

This is a wonderful success story!

[blondeatlast]

13. While I read this thread, I was listening to Fats Domino singing "Please Come Home for Christmas"

on the iPod; followed by Lou Rawls singing "What're You Doing New Year's Eve?"

It's the little things that make me believe in a little magic--especially during the winter holidays.

I'm grinning now and I feel NO shame!

Happy holidays, everyone!