Missing moggy reunited with owner 10 years later
Mishka the cat has been on quite the adventure since going missing from her owner’s Chadstone front yard 10 years ago, but for owner Georgia Tatsaris, it’s like she never left.
VIC News
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It took 10 years for Mishka to find her owner again in a miracle, tearful reunion last week.
Georgia Tsatsaris, 54, of Karingal said she sank to the floor of the Peninsula Vet Referral Hospital in Mornington and sobbed when she saw her long lost cat last Friday.
“I was so excited and elated at first when I heard she was alive,” Ms Tsatsaris said.
“But when I saw her looking so defeated and bony, I just broke down. She doesn’t look anything like she used to and I couldn’t even pick her up, she was so emaciated.”
Mishka, 15, is a blue point Birman who lived mainly indoors in the family’s Chadstone home but when Ms Tsatsaris, went to work one morning 10 years ago, she put her into her outdoor cat enclosure because it was a sunny day. When she came home from work Mishka was gone.
She put up notices in the surrounding areas, contacted the local vets and pounds but there was no sign of Mishka.
Ms Tsatsaris’ marriage broke up in 2011 and she moved to Karingal near Frankston, never expecting, but still hoping, to see Mishka again. She even bought another cat of the same breed who is now a cherished pet.
But last Friday she received a call from a Port Melbourne vet to say Mishka was alive. A worker in an industrial area had noticed Mishka loitering for a couple of weeks but she finally let him pick her up and he took her to the vet. Microchip tracing meant the vet could contact Ms Tsatsaris who then transferred her to a vet closer to her home on the peninsula.
“She’s been fighting to stay alive but each day she’s getting stronger,” she said.
“I have no idea what she’s been through which breaks my heart but when I went to see her for the first time, I said her name and she let out a soft meow as she curled up to me and rubbed her face against my cheek.
“She was so sweet with me and didn’t shy away at all. It was like she wanted me to touch her and to feel some kindness. She’s finally found her way home and there’s some strength in her yet.”
Mishka is gradually recovering from a range of conditions including dehydration, an ulcer on her eye and her kidney function has been poor. She is being fed four times a day in small amounts.
Ms Tsatsaris was stood down from her job in March and, even though she has returned to work three days a week, she has suffered a financial blow in paying Mishka’s vet bills so began a Go Fund Me campaign.
“I’ve been seeing her every day and I hope she may be able to survive for a year or so,” she said.
“I’d like her to experience a warm, happy environment again for this stage of her life.”
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