Keeping the feline faith

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Patti Warner is overjoyed to have her pet, a long-haired domestic cat named Bizz, back home with her. P-R Photo / Gabe Dickens

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December 31, 2011

Cat back home with owner after four months astray

SHAUN KITTLE Press-Republican The Press Republican Sat Dec 31, 2011, 02:28 AM EST

PLATTSBURGH — After being separated for four stormy months, Patti Warner has been reunited with her feline friend Bizz.

On Aug. 3, Warner returned home from a relaxing vacation and wanted nothing more than to see her black, gray and white tabby.

She picked Bizz up at Adirondack Pet Lodge on Kaycee Loop Road, not far from Hammond Lane in Plattsburgh, but made a crucial error as she exited — instead of putting the cat into a carrier, she opted to hold her as she made her way to her car.

Then, on the way out, two dogs saw Bizz and began barking. The ruckus startled the cat, which struggled to break free from Warner's grasp.

"I tried to keep holding on to her, but I just couldn't," said Warner. "She shot out of my arms."

Bizz was so terrified of the canines that she fled at top speed, and her owner found it impossible to catch up.

"She was just trying to protect herself," said Warner, who suffered a fractured knuckle and a severed tendon on her hand from the incident.

SEARCHED FOR MONTHS

Deeply distressed by the loss, Warner made posters and flyers that she distributed throughout Plattsburgh, and she called WIRY radio station's Lost and Found show numerous times.

After her injuries healed, Warner began searching the fields and woods near her home.

In an attempt to lure her missing friend, she would try calling to Bizz while shaking a container of cat food.

There was no sign of her pet, and Warner was becoming discouraged.

"I gave myself a cut-off date of Thanksgiving. But after that passed, I still had friends, family and sympathetic strangers encouraging me not to give up hope."

HOPE IGNITED

And then, shortly after Thanksgiving, Warner received a phone call that changed everything. An employee at a local business thought she had spotted Bizz near Military Turnpike.

"All of that time I spent searching, and I was looking in the wrong area," Warner said, laughing.

She rushed to the location and set up a Hav-a-Heart trap in a shed that Bizz was likely to visit.

The trap, which is designed to capture animals without harming them, was supplied to her by Victoria St. John, founder and director of the St. John Feral Cat Fund.

Warner had tried the traps before, but they had proved unsuccessful.

'HEARD A MEOW'

This time, however, Warner's luck changed.

On Dec. 2, the owner of the shed called Warner to tell her that there was something in the trap.

"I walked into the dark shed with a flashlight, and I made my way around the trap," Warner said. "I could tell there was something inside. And then I heard a meow."

Ecstatic, Warner opened the trap and swept Bizz into her arms. The cat seemed unfazed by all the excitement.

"I cried like a baby, and Bizz just purred. She looked at me as if to say, 'Can we go home now?' It was like she never left."

STORMY WEATHER

Over the course of her four months on her own, Bizz had been exposed to an array of foul weather, including the heavy wind and rain brought on by Tropical Storm Irene and a heavy mid November snowstorm.

But other than losing a couple of pounds, she was as healthy as the day she escaped.

And Warner couldn't be happier to have her friend back home.

To report lost pets or items, call WIRY Hometown Radio's Lost and Found seven days a week at 9:05 a.m. and 1:05 and 5:45 p.m. at 563-1340. Listen to the program at 1340 AM.