Many of us love our pets and think of them as “children,” in a way.
And before Jason and Liz McKenry had human children, their furry child was a cat named Ritz, who was adopted when he was 2 years old.
Sadly, Ritz went missing over a decade ago.
Exploring every possibility
The McKenry’s looked everywhere for little Ritz back in 2006.
“We spent months looking all around and talking to the shelters,” Jason McHenry told CBS News. “Anything we could think of, we tried.”
It was even harder to deal with because Ritz had been microchipped.
So, theoretically, if someone found him safe and sound, he should have made his way back to his family.
Animals are unpredictable
Cats are curious creatures. And they don’t enjoy closed doors.
Nearly everyone who has owned a cat has had to be careful when they swing open a door or window.
The Annapolis, Maryland couple learned that the hard way when Ritz bolted out of their apartment door one day out of nowhere.
And he didn’t come back.
It’s hard to get closure when you don’t find a lost, beloved pet.
The McHenrys had never given up hope.
The “Lost” poster for Ritz is still saved on their computer all these years later.
“It felt like if I deleted it, it never happened, and he’d be forgotten,” Mrs. McHenry said. “And I couldn’t do that.”
Lost and found
It turns out Ritz became a stray.
All these years, he had probably been living on the streets until a woman six miles from the McHenry’s old apartment building found him in bad shape.
She took Ritz to the vet because he had a serious leg injury.
And when the vet scanned his microchip, they found the McHenrys’ contact information.
They called immediately since it looked like Ritz might have to be put down due to his injury and age.
Home again
The McKenrys couldn’t believe it when they got a text message saying a cat with a serial number matching Ritz’s (which also recorded his name) had been located and was at a nearby vet.
“I was like, ‘Well, that’s gotta be a mistake.’ I mean, I’m thinking they recycled the microchip number,” Mr. McHenry told CBS News.
But it was true. Ritz was back after all these years. A
fter more than a decade and a half, the McHenrys finally have their pet back.
A family reunion
Ritz now has the “honor” of being the longest missing pet to ever be reunited with its family thanks to a microchip.
After 16 years of likely living in or around a nearby trailer park, Ritz is now back to living the high life with his original owners.
He also has some new human siblings.
He’s picked out a favorite piece of furniture and is very friendly with the kids.
The McHenrys think his sweet demeanor means he was likely taken in at some point and treated as a house cat in the 16 years since they had last seen him.
But only Ritz knows for sure.
And for now, he’s just enjoying the rest of his life in the comfort of his first home.
To see more about Ritz’s 16-year odyssey, be sure to scroll down below for a video of the whole newly-reunited family!
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