Microchip brings Miami Valley cat home after four years

A Miami Valley cat is home for the holidays after being missing for four years. A microchip helped bring him home.

“I was kind of stunned at first. It was kind of like he had come back from the dead,” Kristina Middelstetter said.

She explained her orange cat, Kanji, got out while her family was moving to Yellow Springs in 2016.

“I never saw him posted on any lost and found sites,” Middelstetter said.

Last month, she got an email that her cat’s microchip had been scanned. Soon, Middelstetter would learn what Kanji had been up to, at least for the last two years.

Karla Horvath’s family lived about a mile from Middelstetter. Her family called Kanji, “Orange Kitty.”

“(He) started showing up at our house eating out of our cat’s dish and when our cat passed away, Orange Kitty stuck around, so we just kind of kept feeding her,” Horvath said.

A few weeks ago, Orange Kitty started coughing and sneezing, so Horvath brought him to Bailey Animal Clinic in Mad River Township.

During the exam, Dr. Heather Bailey found Kanji’s microchip. She said this story highlights the importance of microchipping even for indoor cats.

“It’s vital,” Dr. Bailey said. “Indoor kitties, if they do get out, they’re very scared because they’re not used to being outside, and so they often times will hide in a place that’s very difficult for you to find them.”

Middelstetter also reminds other pet owners to update their microchip information. The phone number on file was disconnected, but her email address was current.

Now that Kanji is back home, Middelstetter said he is adjusting well.

“He’s happy to be inside. He has not glanced toward outside since he’s been in,” Middelstetter said. “It’s been great.”

Cox Media Group