http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/01/07/top_story/extras/doc43bf178c23d0e
464001051.txt

(picture

at site)

They thought he was a goner ... but the cat came back

 

BY CARA PESEK / Lincoln Journal Star
Saturday, January 07, 2006

 

HALLAM — The Tighe family had long ago written off Harley the cat as
dead.  He was 8 years old when he went missing. He was declawed. And he
disappeared in the May 22, 2004, tornado. 

And even if he had survived the storm, which also claimed the Tighe
home, he wasn’t a very nice cat, Sue Tighe said. She didn’t think he’d
find anyone willing to take care of him.

Somehow, though, Harley made it. Monday, he came home.

Tighe’s grown daughter, Samantha Tighe, saw a big orange-and-white
tabby cat at the edge of the yard. She called his name.

He ran to her, meowing the chirpy meow she remembered.

She got out his baby pictures to doublecheck his markings, the width of
his stripes, the white marks on his face. They all lined up.

But she didn’t need those to prove it was him.

“As soon as he started running and meowing, I knew it was him,” Samantha said.

Sue got Harley as a 4-week-old kitten. She gave him to her son Shaun,
who was then 10.

And the story gets even better.

Shaun, who’s 20 now, is in the Army National Guard. He’s been stationed
at Camp Shelby in Mississippi since October and will likely be deployed
to Iraq in March.

Shaun got to come home for Christmas. The night before he left, his cat
came home. For 45 minutes, Shaun just sat outside and petted him, Sue
said.

It was like Harley knew he’d be there, she said.

Harley came back in remarkably good health, said Jeremiah Vondra, a
Crete veterinarian who treated Harley after his return. The only
problem seemed to be earmites.

“I think he used his nine lives up,” Vondra said.

Sue Tighe wonders how he kept safe all that time. And she wishes she
knew what he’s been up to.

“Where has he been? What’s he been doing for the past year and a half?
It’s just weird,” she said. “But we’re glad he’s home.”

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They showed him on the news tonight too. He didn't seem like a "not
nice" cat. Rubbed against the camera. I can't believe it. What a
survivor.