Family reunited with missing cat after seven months

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - An Iowa family though their pet cat was gone forever after he was spooked by fireworks during a visit to Sioux Falls on the fourth of July. But thanks to the generosity of neighbors, and help from a Facebook page for lost pets, Leopold has found his way home.

“After talking to the admins on the Facebook lost pet groups, they told me how to make an insulated pet shelter,” said Kay Grein, who rescued Leopold. “For outside, they told me that I need to align it with straw. So I have been keeping an eye out and never saw the cat. If you use blankets and towels they will get wet and the animal will get wet.”

“Since we were out here late to see the fireworks, we stopped by our parent’s house, and that’s where we were staying,” said Rob Dirks, Leopold’s owner. “We decided to put the pets in the garage, and that’s when the cat got out and that’s the last time we saw him late on the evening of the Fourth of July.”

We opted to use a live trap and captured him the second night that second night the trap was out,” explained Grein. “I took him to the vet at 1:00 a.m. to get the chip scanned so I could verify that I had the right owner.”

“To me, it’s incredible that he survived for seven months on his own living out in the elements,” expressed Dirks. " We kept pretty good tabs on the weather here. I konw there has been three major blizzards.”

“It’s a Bengal kitty and they are adorable. People don’t just stumble upon Bengal kitties running loose in the storms,” said Grein.

“So we took some time off work to come up here and search for him, and that search didn’t come to any fruition,” said Dirks.

“It’s kinda exciting, but for the car to stay in one neighborhood for quite a while is amazing,” said Grein. “It’s very exciting that I got to play a big part in his life to get him back to his humans.”

“I think to have him back after so long, it’s something we will take day by day and nurture,” said Dirks.

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