Missing cat suddenly returned after seven years
"It's really incredible. I never thought this was possible," says a still perplexed Elsalie from The Hague. On Friday, her friend received a call from someone from the animal ambulance, asking if he had a cat. "No, not for seven years," was his answer. What turns out? Their cat Gringo, who had disappeared without a trace since June 2017, has been found in perfect health.
"I can hardly remember it," 36-year-old Elsalie begins her story about the disappearance of their pet, who was only three years old seven years ago. "It was my boyfriend's cat; we weren't even living together at the time. He must have probably gone out through the skylight. He used to wander around, but always came back home. But that time he never came back."
Quest and flyers
In the early days, Elsalie and her boyfriend Hugo naturally searched and distributed flyers. Stichting Amivedi, a platform for missing pets, was also called in. "But we never heard anything after that. We thought he had either died or been taken by someone." According to Elsalie, Gringo is an animal who loves freedom and is an everyman's friend who appeals to everyone.
"He is tremendously affectionate and sweet."
The years pass without the red male cat Gringo. Until last Friday, when an animal ambulance employee called Hugo. She had found the cat at Het Kleine Loo in The Hague and through the animal's chip she was able to trace the owner. That same evening, Elsalie was reunited with Gringo. "He is now lying here in front of me on the carpet," she says. "He is tremendously affectionate, incredibly sweet. He asks for attention, wants to play, gives head and follows me around the house. He doesn't know the house and is a bit disoriented, since we have since moved. Today he is already a little calmer."
Gringo undergoes everything resignedly
The now 10-year-old Gringo is doing well. "He's gotten pretty fat, he really needs to go on a diet," Elsalie laughs. She has yet to visit the vet, but at first glance he appears to be in perfect health. "I don't see any fleas, nothing out of the ordinary. He doesn't look like he's lived on the streets for years."
It immediately raises the question of where the tomcat has been all this time. "I suspect he has been living with someone else, someone who fed him well," is the only logical explanation Elsalie can think of.
Mixed feelings
"We are very happy to have him back, but also have mixed feelings," she admits honestly. "We live in an apartment, not really the ideal place for an outdoor cat. And our lives have also changed in these seven years. We travel a lot, which is why we didn't get a new pet."
Elsalie is not sure yet if she wants to keep Gringo. "If he has lived with someone else for seven years, that person might want him back. Maybe that person has a beautiful house, while we live along the A12. I don't know... My boyfriend is also very attached to his freedom, he doesn't even know this cat anymore," she describes the inner dichotomy they now find themselves in.
The importance of chipping
Finally, what Elsalie would like to emphasize is the importance of chipping your pet. Thanks to the implanted chip, the animal ambulance was able to quickly track down the cat's owners. "We had him spayed and chipped, which I think you should do as a responsible owner. And we now give him a GPS tracker," she concludes with a laugh.
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