Kitty Brings a Surprise

The vet came out the day before Thanksgiving to give our new kitty Matilda (Tilda or Tillie for short)  a general once-over. They think she is a little older than Minou and has some tooth issues that need to be looked at but is overall in good shape considering the life she has had up to now. Since whoever she lived with originally had her declawed (!) we thought they may have also had her chipped so we asked the vet to scan her - no chip. So someone "cared" enough to cut their cat's toenails off but not enough to make sure she could find her way home again... sometimes I hate humans. 

Minou also had a quick visit with the vet with a booster feline leukemia shot and "well kitty" check. She's in great shape but is ready to have her teeth cleaned so she had some blood drawn in preparation for that. The SURPRISE came when, because the vet had it at the ready, used the scanner on Minou to see if she had a chip - low and behold she does indeed. Needless to say I was shocked, we thought she was left behind by neighbors who moved but the chip made me think she may have run away in the chaos of their moving. After many tears and a discussion with Jim I logged on to the website to at least see if we could contact her former people. I was so scared when I entered the chip number to look up Minou's info (including what her name used to be), what if the people missed her and wanted her back? It has been over a year since she came to stay and we would be heartbroken if we had to surrender her to someone who might not take care of her. 

I hit enter and got the answer: the number was not registered. I checked an alternate website that was suggested and nothing. I checked the "universal" animal chip website, the number did not bring up anything there either. We think she may have been chipped by a shelter with the idea she was to be registered at the time of adoption. I dried my tears and hugged our kitty. Apparently she's home for good.