Lost cat’s family accidentally finds her at animal center
By Joel Davis | (joeld@thedailytimes.com)
It was a long road, but Cleo came home. This is her story.
Once upon a time, Maryville resident Sandra George owned a cat named Cleo, loving and affectionate. The cat came to her after it followed one of her nephews home.
“She’s more than 5 years old,” George said. “We’re not sure. ... She had been abused real bad, and it took me a month or more to get her where she’d even come to me.”
George persevered, and the cat grew very dear to her. Then, one day, nearly two years ago, Sandra decided to move to a new residence. Cleo disappeared during the process.
“Somehow she got out, and we couldn’t find her,” said Sandra’s daughter, Brandy George. “We yelled for her. We put cat food out. We tried everything.”
Eventually, though, the Georges accepted that Cleo was gone for good. Time passed and Sandra eventually needed to have surgery and grew very depressed. Brandy decided to take action.
“My mom just had surgery, so I said, ‘Mom, maybe a cat will make you feel better — a baby kitten.”
A few weeks before, a stray cat was picked up by Blount County Animal Control after being found starving in an abandoned home. Animal center volunteers named her May and found she was a gentle and affectionate cat.
On her quest to cheer up her mother, Brandy paid a visit to the animal center and asked the staff it there were any affectionate and loving cats. The staff had one just in mind, and presented May. Brandy was thunderstruck.
‘That’s Cleo!’
“I said, ‘That’s Cleo! That’s my mom’s missing cat. ... As soon as I called her name, she popped her head up.”
A kind person at the animal center contributed $20 toward the adoption fee for Cleo, and Brandy was able to take her home at long last. “I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “It was my mom’s missing cat, and we found her. I was like I can’t believe it. This is crazy. I brought her home, and my mom started crying. We found her cat that she was in love with. That was her baby.”“They do remember who you are,” Sandra George said. “They really do.”
Sandra, too, was unbelieving of the luck. “Oh, my goodness, I just couldn’t believe it. I thought she was gone forever. That was absolutely wonderful because once your cat is gone, normally you never ever find them again.”
Chris Davis, a volunteer, helps take care of the cats being held at the Animal Center. She said Cleo was a good cat. “We just took care of her the best we could here. I think she ended up where she belonged. She was just really sweet and was always in everybody’s face, begging everybody to take her home.”
Cleo is not the only adoptable cat to be found at the Animal Center. “We have people come in all the time looking for cats, and they are always a wonderful addition to every family,” Davis said. “We can always find one that would fit in with their family.”
The center, located at 241 Currie Ave., Maryville, is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (adoptions only). It is closed Sunday and Monday. The phone number is 980-6244. Visit http://SMACF.com to see adoptable animals, volunteer, or donate.
