We got Oscar back on January 27, 2015. He was gone for a VERY long time and it happened by chance really. I was searching on petharbor.com - a site I had been frequenting since he went missing. I checked pretty regularly but around mid-January I really was losing hope. Well... one day at work on a break I decided to check again and lo and behold I saw his picture. I swore up and down it was him, I verified the picture (which was not great) on their site with pictures I had of him. I asked my friend Marissa, who had been around Oscar quite a bit to verify and she was pretty certain it was him as well. So I called the shelter, begged my boss (who loves cats, he has 2) if I could leave early because the shelter was closing at 4:30 and I couldn't begin to fathom leaving Oscar there one more night, especially if it really was Oscar. I got approval to go, Marissa came with me and we went to downtown Jacksonville (almost Riverside) to check it out.
We showed up at the shelter, I told the lady at the front desk I was pretty sure #XXX-XXXX was mine and she seemed hesitant. She asked if I knew he had feline aids and I said "No", but I was able to confirm other information about him. She called for another worker to escort us back to Oscar and into a very small room. As soon as I saw him, I knew it was him. I think he knew it was me. The workers around asked if he liked to have his head pet, and I said that it was one of his stand-out traits. Oscar was so content in my arms and I cried like a baby. I don't think I realized how much I had missed his adorable face. The doctor came in to confirm a microchip - I said that it was put in when I got him from the Humane Society 2 years prior but she said they couldn't find it. She proceeded to check for the one they put in him when he came in 2 weeks earlier and couldn't find that either. Then... there was the story. Apparently, Oscar had traveled to the West side of town which is by NO means anywhere close to where we live (and requires a trek over a bridge), so the shelter workers were still hesitant to confirm if Oscar was in fact Oscar. It didn't matter to me though, I knew it was him. I paid $20 for another microchip and signed papers to "re-adopt" him for a second time and we were on our way home.
He was diagnosed with an Upper Respiratory Infection and Feline AIDS (which I assume is from another cat he encountered in the 2 months + he was gone). He's been home for almost 2 months now and he's doing better. We've kept him in our bedroom because he still doesn't sound great and we have been trying to keep him separate from our other cat, Conor. Conor and Oscar know eachother is there and they spend nights (sometimes all night!) pawing at my bedroom door. Conor isn't a super healthy cat though and we don't want to risk Oscar passing Feline AIDS to Conor... I'm hoping I can ease them both into a comfortable living situation again.
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