Cats are some interesting creatures. Predominantly, cats are pets that like their alone time. A lot of the cats I know are very cool with laying alone in the sun all day and if you leave cool, if you don’t, also cool. So this story might happen way more than we’d like to admit.
Meet Jimmy. A cat that loves to be on his own. He loves to be adventurous and hang outside until he wants to come in and he would meow. Jimmy would go on walks with the dog, visit neighbors and even sneak into cars that leave their windows open. Well that would turn out to be how Sue Zelitsky, Jimmy’s mom, lost him.
Jimmy was 13 back in 2014 when he went missing. Zelitsky’s husband had let him outside to do his normal playing, but when it was time to come back in, Jimmy was no where to be seen.
They put up fliers with Jimmy on them, trying to get him back but to no avail. Everytime Zelitsky went on a walk with their dog, she would call to Jimmy but still nothing. Eventually it seemed that Jimmy was never coming back home.
Here’s when things get way better. Fast forward to two and a half years and Sue is browsing Facebook. All of a sudden she sees a post from the West Milford Animal Shelter about a cat that they had just found. They believed it to be a stray…but it looked strikingly like Jimmy.
Sue told The Dodo, “He was found approximately 10 miles from our home after the big March blizzard and brought in to the West Milford Animal Shelter. After some sharing of pictures and other physical attributes I went to see him.”
Sue brought a few items that Jimmy might recognize and enjoy and headed to the shelter with her neighbor who also loved Jimmy. Once they got to the shelter, the staff brought out Jimmy and his reaction was priceless. According to a Facebook post:
“The cat’s reaction to them was amazing. They figured out that he has been missing for 2 1/2 years. He went missing the day someone in the family went to visit other friends in High Crest. At the time her cat “Jimmy” would jump into the cars in the driveway and sleep in them- they think he must have hitched a ride to High Crest and been making friends there this whole time. They were so happy! They had found Jimmy.
She left and came back with her husband Bob, who was Jimmy’s buddy. Her husband immediately said “that’s my boy” and of course everyone was crying very happy tears!”
So Jimmy is 15 years old now and back with his family which is so dang heartwarming. Sue concluded, “We are over the moon. It’s the greatest story ever and almost too good to be true…but it is!”