LISTOWEL - Her name is Cleo, and she’s looking for a home.
Heartland Animal Hospital and Veterinary Services is dealing with something of a mystery after taking in a furry visitor perhaps used to a warmer climate than the surrounding area of Minto and North Perth. Veterinary technician Sam Clark said the nine-year-old calico Cleo was brought in to the local animal hospital on Jan. 3 after it was found the night before by a Wroxeter resident. A quick examination of Cleo revealed a micro-chip imbedded under her skin, something not usually found in cats.
“A lot of breeders will micro-chip their dogs so they can truly say for sure that this is that dog,” Clark said. “It just seems that more often than not it would probably be something a dog has done, especially if it’s a purebred.”
However, staff at Heartland were puzzled when the micro-chip wasn’t registered with any company in Canada. The search was broadened to the United States, and a match was found with a humane society in Hawaii. The theories of how the cat could have made its way from the tropical island to Listowel are varied among staff, but Clark suspects the owner moved back to the area from Hawaii and didn’t update the address on Cleo’s file.
“It didn’t swim and walk here, we know that,” Clark said. “Somebody must have flown it back and they’re probably wondering where their cat is.”
Since then, Heartland staff have been busy trying to track down any leads that will reunite Cleo with her owner and in the meantime, keeping her comfy on the slow path to recovery.
“There’s no overnight cure, she’s very thin,” Clark said. “Other than that, she’s very bright, happy and alert.”
In the event that an owner can’t be found for Cleo, Clark said adoption is an option, although it can be difficult to find homes for older animals.
“It’s very hard to get rid of healthy kittens here or anywhere, let alone a nine-year-old cat,” she said. “I hope that everything works out for her.”
Clark is also hoping that Cleo’s case raises the importance of micro-chipping pets, a method that involves implanting a small chip the size of a grain of rice under the animal’s skin. ...please read more in this weeks Minto Express