A Glenelg resident who feared the worst for her missing cat has “cried with joy “after the AWOL animal was found safe nearly 30 miles from home in the Stromeferry area.
Kate Wietska said she had thought her pet puss ‘Little’ was sure to have died following her disappearance close to a fortnight ago on Sunday 24th October.
However, much to her relief, she was reunited with her far-flung feline late this week after the curious creature was located 28 miles from home.
“It is not unusual for her to wander off, but she normally comes running when we go looking for her,” Kate told the Free Press.
“But when she had been missing for almost two weeks and hadn’t come when we called, we felt like something was wrong.
“The last time we saw her was Sunday 24th October.”
She added: “Her name is Little, she is five years old – I think. She was a rescue from Skye and was really wild when we got her. I was a bit scared of her even as a tiny thing, but after about a week she just switched and was soft as anything.
“She is a really good hunter – that’s why I got her – and can fend for herself no bother, but I was worried she was trapped in someone’s shed without water, so we put the word out – posters and social media.”
Despite help from her neighbours and friends – which included a search party being conducted all over Glenelg – Kate said her hopes of finding her beloved cat appeared to be fading.
“We were shaking food and calling her and nothing – it was really strange,” said Kate.
The sense of gloom now hanging over Little’s wellbeing was soon shifted, however, as news concerning a possible sighting of her furry companion brought a ray of light for Kate, as she explained.
“That night I got a message about a Facebook post put out on Lochcarron free ads. A cat had been found that matched her description just past Stromeferry but me and my partner Jake were sure it couldn’t be her – it was almost 30 miles away,” she said.
“We got our hopes up, but it wasn’t confirmed for a while because the people who had found her had put food for her in their sheds and let her come and go so they hadn’t got a photo of her.
“Just before I was planning on going to bed, around midnight, I was sent a photo of her and it was her!
“We actually cried with joy!”
Eagle-eyed Anne Pringle initially spotted Little in Ardnarff, and Anne’s neighbour brought her in for the night before Kate was reunited with her cat the next day.
Kate said: “The next morning I went to collect her and she yarled her way home until I put the box down on the floor of our living room and she purred so much she was almost sick.
“She’s now sleeping in front of the fire. She can get the star treatment for a day but then I’m hoping she’ll get back to work and sort out the mice that have made their way back into the house!”
Summing up her emotions she said: “I roll my eyes a bit when people talk so much about their animals being unique, but Little really is such a character.
“We had missed her loads and thought we might not see her again.”
Kate has asked the Free Press to help a fellow cat owner – Roslyn Hay – in her appeal to locate her pet who has been missing for more than eight weeks.
Please see below for information.
Article by Adam Gordon, image courtesy of Kate Wietska