A microchipped cat named Teenie by AniMeals adoption center in Missoula, MT made her way home after almost a year. As amazing as that is all by itself, the story’s details make it quite unusual. This kitty came all the way from Down Under, an Australian cat reunited with her Montana family who had been searching for her.
One day before sharing the story of Teenie, AniMeals shared the story of Oliver, the Persian. In that case, Oliver reunited with his human family in Idaho after somehow traveling over 365 miles away in four days. In this case, there was no microchip, but a social media post reconnected Oliver with his faraway family.
AniMeals tweeted a picture of the cat they were calling Teenie the next day. As their social media fans recently demonstrated with Oliver, they frequently assist in reuniting lost cats with their owners. As a result, the rescue group believed Teenie would be saved in the same way.
“You guys are fantastic at this.” Hopefully, you’ll be able to assist us with this one as well,” AniMeals wrote on Facebook.
“This older lady was discovered as a stray in the 2200 Block of Kensington in Missoula in October 2020. “We’ve given her the name Teenie,” they wrote.
When the rescuers retrieved the information on Teenie’s microchip, her story took a dramatic turn. It originates from an Australian organization in South Wales.
“Teenie is microchipped to an Organization in South Wales Australia. We have sent them a message, but obviously, we are in different time zones. The best guess is she is older than ten because [Teenie] was diagnosed as being Hyperthyroid,” they wrote. “[It] would be awesome to find her original owners.
As the AniMeals staff awaited a response from Australia, they watched for comments. Soon, they had an amazing answer.
Soon after posting the story of Teenie, AniMeals had located the owner. Rather than being from Australia, they were much closer than expected.
“UPDATE: OWNER HAS BEEN FOUND. IT IS ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE STORY MORE INFO COMING UP TOMORROW”
Teenie’s Family Has Been Nearby the Whole Time
On their page, the group shared the rather unbelievable news:
“WOW!!!! What a bizarre week it has been. We didn’t make this story up either,” they began their post.
As it turns out, the Australian microchip company responded to the inquiry about Teenie.
“We sent an email to the place that had implanted the chip, and we got a response back; Teenie’s real name is Sophie, and her owners were living in the US.”
Now, it turned out that Sophie’s owner was quite familiar to staff at AniMeals.
“The name of the owner that they gave sounded very familiar. I had the information for the owners the whole time and didn’t even know it. Sophie’s owners have been fostering for us and adopted from us a few months back. What are the odds of that????? The world became very small…..” they wrote.
Sophie went for a long ten-block walk almost a year ago. After that, she wound up on the porch of a pleasant person. The generous lady began feeding the lost kitty, believing she must be a homeless cat.
“This compassionate individual began feeding her and eventually allowed her to move into the house where she had resided for the previous ten months.” Meanwhile, her family was on the lookout for her,” the article claimed.
Then, this person moved across the country.
“The person that Sophie had been with for the last ten months has not been able to find housing in Missoula, so she decided to move to Washington DC. She couldn’t take Sophie with her, so she brought her to us. This is how Sophie was able to go back home to her family this morning after almost one year missing.”
Now, they had the complete picture, thanks to the microchip.
“Sophie was adopted in Australia as a kitten and is now nine years old. Microchips really do work.
“Please Please Microchip your pets…..”
In the comments, Sophie’s happily reunited owner responded:
“Yep, that’s our Sophie! So glad she’s been found and so sorry you had to go through Australia to get to us!!! Thank you so much. We’ve missed her!”
“So happy to hear the amazing news! Now, out of curiosity, should someone who moved from another country, notify the microchip company of their move (whether temporary or permanent) just like you would if you moved in the states? You wouldn’t put in a 2nd chip for the states, right?” asked a person.
In response, Sophie’s owners stated:
“I thought I had registered her here, but didn’t do it properly. It turns out, I need to change my contract details in Australia because chip readers here can read the info, then contact the folks in Australia, ultimately finding me! Lesson learnt!”
As a result, it’s critical to contact the pet registry where your pet was first enrolled to update your pet’s contact information. According to Petfinder, you may usually change your information on the company’s website or over the phone.
In many circumstances, microchipping your pet is essential before transferring to another nation. Given the ease with which your contact information can be retrieved anywhere in the world, your pet will be able to find their way home whether they travel to the next door neighbor’s house or halfway around the world.
Thank you, AniMeals, for sharing yet another amazing tale and a reminder to microchip your dogs.
