{"id":320,"date":"2016-04-04T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T06:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happypetsinfo.com\/blog\/?p=320"},"modified":"2016-04-20T00:26:12","modified_gmt":"2016-04-20T00:26:12","slug":"jake-the-stray-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happypetsinfo.com\/blog\/jake-the-stray-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Jake The Stray Cat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jake the Stray Cat<\/h1>\n
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Odie\/Jake<\/p><\/div>\n

I live in a senior community and there are many neighbors who have pets. \u00a0When my Betsy was here with me we would walk several times a day, and during those walks we would see friendly neighbors also walking their dogs.\u00a0 It is a wonderful bond that is formed when doing these daily rounds with your furry companion.\u00a0 Many times, I would see a beautiful orange cat running free in areas around my block.\u00a0 One night last year I saw this orange cat trying to rip open my bag of garbage that I had put out on the curb for pick up the next morning.\u00a0 It was just before a big thunderstorm and I tried to go out and see if I could get the cat, thinking that he probably belonged to someone on my street and had gotten loose. Of course, he ran away when I approached him and climbed into the bushes in the yard across from me.\u00a0 Shortly after, we had one of those severe storms that lasted all throughout the night, and I worried about that poor cat out there somewhere in that weather.\u00a0 During the winter, I would occasionally see the same stray cat<\/em> again, sometimes out in very cold, icy weather.\u00a0 I thought about him whenever the weather was extreme, both summer and winter, and I hoped and prayed that he had shelter and some food to keep him alive, somehow.<\/p>\n

Last month, I read in our monthly community newsletter that there was a wonderful couple who lived on the next road who discovered the stray cat and started putting food out for him and giving him shelter and warmth in their backyard.\u00a0 They were trying to catch him to keep him from starving or freezing to death.\u00a0 In addition to putting food and water out for him, they put a heating pad under an outdoor chair cushion for him to keep warm. \u00a0This speaks volumes for their caring, kind hearts.\u00a0 Although some of their neighbors were not of the same kind nature (we have a leash law in our community) and tried to destroy the feeding bowls, the couple kept on feeding the cat and trying to get him safely inside their home.<\/p>\n

\"happy<\/a>

Odie\/Jake, finally indoors and safe resting under a kind neighbor’s Christmas tree<\/p><\/div>\n

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The couple named him Odie, and after a while he trusted them enough to go into their house where he took a long nap under their Christmas tree.<\/p>\n

They let him go in and out for a few days until he was stable enough to be taken to a veterinarian where he could be examined.\u00a0\u00a0 They took him to the same vet where I took Betsy regularly for nine years.\u00a0 The Bay Country Veterinary Hospital<\/a> is an excellent clinic, and all of the doctors and staff are, in my opinion, the best to be found.\u00a0 \u00a0Because \u201cOdie\u201d was a stray<\/em> they did a microchip scan<\/em>, and to everyone\u2019s surprise he had an active chip from a vet\u2019s office in another county in Maryland. The data on the chip was used to locate the owner, who lived about five miles away from my neighborhood, where the lost cat had been trying to survive for the past two years.<\/p>\n

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Jake being weighed and examined at vet’s clinic<\/p><\/div>\n

The owner, Matt, was in the vet\u2019s office in a half hour to claim his cat, who he had originally named Jake. Jake\u2019s history was that he was a stray when found by Matt and his family when they lived in another Maryland county. Jake was approximately two at the time, and his age was now estimated from between 15-17 years old. Apparently, Jake got out of the house one night two years ago, got lost, and ended up in my community.<\/p>\n

The couple who befriended Odie\/Jake are wonderful people who have taken in strays before, and they say that Jake will not be the last.\u00a0 I wish more people were as kind and compassionate as Mike and his wife, the couple who saved the beautiful orange cat who roamed our neighborhood streets for two years.\u00a0 They did the right thing, and so did Jake\u2019s owners by having him microchipped<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 By having Jake microchipped and registered, and by Mike and his wife taking him to the vet\u2019s clinic, Jake was alive and was able to be back with his family once again.<\/p>\n

I love happy endings (don\u2019t you?), and although Mike and his wife had a difficult time seeing Jake go, they knew that he would have a good home with his owners.\u00a0 Mike\u2019s thought was, if I had a cat that was missing for two years, I would want the person who found him to try to get my cat back to me.<\/p>\n

Mike\u2019s advice is this: \u201cWhen you see a lost animal please be kind. If you cannot approach it, see if a neighbor can befriend it. Then take it to a local vet or animal shelter that will not euthanize.\u201d<\/p>\n

Great advice, Mike, and thank you for your kindness to animals. \u00a0\u00a0There should be more people in this world like you and your wife.<\/p>\n

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Jake says thank you and goodbye to his rescuers, and hello to his owner<\/p><\/div>\n

Please see my article on Microchipping Your Dog or Cat<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/a>(dated March 7) to learn more about the importance of using the microchip process to keep your pets safe and healthy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jake the Stray Cat I live in a senior community and there are many neighbors who have pets. \u00a0When my Betsy was here with me we would walk several times a day, and during those walks we would see friendly neighbors also walking their dogs.\u00a0 It is a wonderful bond that is formed when doing … <\/p>\n

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