Updated Feb. 14
Yes, the cat came back, but that’s where similarities end between the classic Harry Miller song and Rob Williams’ cat Leo.
Leo was recently reunited with Williams, a resident of Two Mile (Sicamous), after the cat had been missing for about a year-and-a-half.
Williams is thrilled to have his furry, four legged buddy back in his life, though he admits he never thought Leo was a goner.
“It was funny, there was something in the back of my mind telling me that he would not necessarily show up, but I would see him again somewhere,” says Williams.
Leo was found 29 kilometres down the road by Grindrod resident Rita Beraro. She thinks Leo had been living in her shed for a couple of weeks before she realized it.
“I thought it was a coyote taking all my cat food tins off my front porch – they were strewn all over the yard and I thought they were getting awfully close,” says Beraro. “My dog was going out sniffing and I thought something was coming up on my porch. Then, one morning I saw the bum of a cat scurrying off and I followed it. It was really friendly so I knew right away it was someone’s cat.”
Beraro began asking around and wound up posting pictures of Leo on Facebook and the Salmon Arm buy and sell page. She had some bites but nothing solid.
“Eventually, the daughter of this fellow, Rob Williams, she contacted me and said, you know, I think that might be my dad’s cat that went missing a year-and-a-half ago,” says Beraro. “So I said, okay, and knowing it was from Sicamous I thought, heaven’s sake, how on Earth could it have got here? But I guess they do that sometimes, they’ll jump into someone’s RV or truck, or under a car to keep warm, and I guess they’ll just hang on there until they get somewhere and jump off.”
Eventually, Beraro and the cat met with Williams in Grindrod, and in no time Beraro realized she had reunited the cat with its rightful owner.
“He was so happy, the man was so happy, he gave me a big hug and said, you made my year,” says Beraro.
With Leo back at his Two Mile home, Williams is in no hurry to let the cat out of his sight, or at least outdoors.
“He used to be an indoor/outdoor cat,” says Williams. “Since we got him home here, he went to the door a couple of times… he’s not in any real big rush to get outside. I know I’ll have to let him out because he’ll be driving everyone crazy. I’m hoping he won’t want to go outside again.”
Beraro and Williams note that if someone was looking after Leo over the past year, they did a good job as the cat is healthy, if not a little on the hefty side.
On a sad note, Beraro says a week after Leo left, her grand kids’ dog Sadie, went missing. Beraro had been caring for the blackish-grey poodle, which went missing when her son, who had the dog, accidentally left it standing in someone’s driveway.
“They forgot to put her in the car, he and his wife, they went to visit a friend and forgot to put my little Sadie back in the car with them,” says Beraro.
Anyone who might have seen Sadie may contact Beraro at 250-803-6365.