Christmas came early for Nicole Klopfenstein, who was reunited with her family cat, a four-year-old black and white tabby named Felix, who had been missing for 100 days.
Where was Felix for 100 days? Did he book a trip to Cancún? Did he elope with another cat? Or maybe he was stolen?
The answer might surprise you. To understand Felix’s story, let’s talk about the night he went missing.
What started as a normal night quickly turned into chaos for the residents of Jasper, including Klopfenstein, a 41-year-old animal health technician.
Thousands of residents and tourists were told to evacuate on July 22, as a raging wildfire blazed a path toward the townsite. That night, Klopfenstein was catsitting her sister’s cat, Felix.
When she received orders to evacuate, Klopfenstein grabbed Felix along with her own cat and dog and charted a course to her dad’s cabin in Valemount, British Columbia.
Ashes drifted in the air as she drove toward the town’s exit. Her parents, who also live in Jasper, followed close behind.
“I just remember the sky was really red. I got the back seat full of all these animals, like the cat, the dog, the other cat meowing like, ‘What’s going on?”‘ Klopfenstein told CBC News.
Klopfenstein drove 100 kilometres to Valemount with her family pets, putting the chaos of the Jasper wildfire in her rearview mirror.
Whatever relief she felt upon arriving at her dad’s cabin was short-lived. While her friend held Felix, the fickle feline jumped from their arms and bolted away from the cabin.
The thought of Felix being afraid and alone kept Klopfenstein up at night.
She tried to find him by putting up posters, posting on social media, and setting up traps baited with sardines and tuna.
With no success, Klopfenstein returned to Jasper, where her home was miraculously still intact. Although she was thankful, Klopfenstein couldn’t stop thinking about Felix. She hadn’t given up.
Holding On to Hope
A month after returning to Jasper, Klopfenstein received a call from a woman who claimed she had seen a cat resembling Felix.
Together with her sister, Klopfenstein returned to Valemount with her heart full of hope. They set up a trap in the area, but the cat they caught wasn’t Felix. The pair returned to Jasper feeling disappointed.
Shortly after, another woman called, saying she saw Felix on her security camera. Klopfenstein made the trek to Valemount again, but the same approach didn’t work.
“So we went out again, set the trap, called him, but nothing,” said Klopfenstein.
At the start of November, the same lady called but sent a photo of Felix captured by her security camera. In the picture, he is seen hiding in a marsh about 15 kilometres away from the cabin.
When she saw the photo, Klopfenstein was confident it was Felix. So she set up a trap and lo and behold, the handsome cat she captured was none other than Felix. He was mostly himself on the way home.
“He was relaxed and sort of grooming himself. He was quite feral when eating, which was a little bit disturbing,” explained Klopfenstein.
So, how did Felix survive for 100 days? Klopfenstein said he would have had to cross train tracks and a busy highway to get to the marsh. As for what he ate, Klopfenstein’s money is on mice. Felix’s return is nothing short of a miracle. One study found at least 15 percent of cat owners lose their pets in a five-year period. Some are never found.
The odds of recovering a lost cat are about one in three within the first seven days. The study shows that a physical search was the best method of finding lost cats alive, with 75 percent being found within a 500-metre radius of their escape point.
Despite losing half his body weight during his time in the wild, Felix received a clean bill of health at the vet after returning to Jasper.
“He’s doing well, he’s eating, drinking and has gained a kilo over the past two weeks,” Klopfenstein told Yahoo News Canada.
The odds were not in Felix’s favour, but the resilient tabby proved he wasn’t one to give up, just like Klopfenstein never gave up on finding him.
