Here’s a story that might give you goosebumps; a string of events that’s hard to believe, almost magical! At the very least, it’s surreal. A cat named Bob delivered a message of hope for a woman from Kansas at the exact time she needed healing. The tale also takes a turn and becomes unexpectedly dramatic, as you’ll see at the end.
We’ve seen many stories that seem to show that cats appear connected with our loved ones who’ve crossed to the other side. Likewise, this true story ventures into the spiritual territory, connecting a woman with her dad who had passed away.
Bob the Cat Suddenly Reappears On an Important Date
Now for the goosebumps: Carol Holmes from Kansas was missing her father, Bob, on what would have been his 94th birthday. The week before his birthday, on August 19, 2023, she was feeling heartbroken. At the same time, she was missing a tuxedo kitten she named Bob, in her dad’s honor. The kitten had been with her for four months when he went missing.
“I had spent the week prior to my Dad’s Birthday thinking of him, missing him, and of course thinking about Bob, my cat! After all, my cat was named after my Dad! I had a memory of Bob sleeping next to my dog pop up on my Facebook memory feed one week prior to getting the found emails. Also, photos of my Dad with my family,” she wrote.
Images of Bob the cat via YouTube
August 19 arrived, and that’s when an epic synchronicity happened.
Bob Reappears on Her Dad’s Birthday
Precisely on her Dad’s birthday, Carol was stunned to see two emails in her inbox from a veterinarian in Fuquay-Varino, North Carolina. They had found Bob, age 14, thanks to his microchip. Incredibly, he was fine ten years later and 1,200 miles from Wichita, Kansas!
“It was surreal. It really is. I was just so stunned,” said Carol.
At the time, nobody knew how Bob traveled so far. And you must admit the timing of those emails is meowvalous! It helped her heal as she missed both the cat and her dad.
“I’m excited to bring him home! I believe he’s a message heaven-sent! ❤️❤️,” wrote Carol.
A GoFundMe raised over $2K to bring him back to Kansas because “there’s no place like home.” A nonprofit, Imagine Home, offered to help.
Video by 12 News:
A Bewildering Twist
After such an incredible light-hearted story, it’s hard to believe there was another dramatic twist. But the story kept going: a cat custody battle over Bob started when Fuquay-Varino resident, Alex Streight came forward. She said she adopted the same cat in 2014 in Wichita, naming him Maui.
“He was in horrible shape,” Streight said. “I fed him, kept looking for [the] owner. I posted in the Wichita groups, but I never found anyone.”
Streight got the cat vet care, and claimed they never scanned him for a microchip. Importantly, as it turned out, she didn’t microchip him either. In 2015, she and her family traveled to North Carolina with the cat, who they loved all those years.
Video by CBS 17:
Bob Goes to Kansas After Many Twists and Turns
In the days that followed, there were harassing phone calls, trespassing, and police at the vet’s office as the custody battle continued. It got to be so much that Animal Control took Bob into protective custody. Streight had even gone to the magistrate’s office to take a warrant out for larceny of the cat. However, that’s when she found out he was in Animal Control.
It turns out that Streight’s neighbor was the one who brought the kitty to the vet’s office on August 19. They had done so after finding him roaming the neighborhood. There, the vet immediately scanned him for a chip and learned about his original home.
Ultimately, the Wake County Attorney’s Office determined Bob would return home to Kansas after all. His microchip, dating to 2013, proved Carol was the original ‘owner,’ and she confirmed she had never intended to abandon him. So Streight and her family had to say goodbye which must have been heartbreaking. And yet his journey to Kansas healed his original Mom’s heart.
Bob at home in Kansas via GoFundMe
After so many twists and turns, there are many lessons: keeping cats indoors and getting an up-to-date microchip are so critically important. But it’s also amazing how deeply loved this kitty was and how dramatically he returned to his original home. And to think, the chain of events all began on his namesake’s birthday! Was it a message from Carol’s dad? We like to think so.
Do you have a similar story? Tell us in the comments!
Bob plays with his favorite Lamb Chop toy
Video by WRAL:
