09/16/09

Kitten Discovered in Goodwill Couch
Karen Nichols

The Goodwill Store in Huron, Ohio got a bonus this week in a donated sofa.

When the sofa in question began yowling, it took store personnel a few minutes to locate the source.

“We heard meowing and didn’t know where it was coming from,” store clerk Kaila Voight said.

“We finally figured out it was coming from the couch. We removed the cushions and out popped the kitten’s head through a slit in the fabric covering the springs,” she said.

Workers tore apart the couch to be sure no addtional kittens were trapped.

The donor called later, saying she was missing a kitten. When she learned the cat had been located, she gave her permission for a customer to adopt him.

This isn’t the first instance of a couch cat stowaway. In March, Callie Jean was discovered in a thrift store couch after being trapped inside for 12 days, and Autumn the Cat was discovered in a discarded box spring minutes before being dumped in landfill.

REMINDER: When donating getting rid of furniture — especially couches and box springs — thoroughly inspect it and do a kitty count before it leaves your home.

[SOURCE: Sandusky Register Online]

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04/30/09

Domino the Cat Stows away from Wisconsin to Arizona
Karen Nichols

Poor Domino! Makes a break from the frigid Midwest to the Sunbelt…. and now is getting returned to Wisconsin!


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04/05/09

Beans the Cat Heads to Sunny San Diego for Spring Break
Karen Nichols

A Lawrence, Kansas family is happy–and relieved–to have their family cat, Beans, back home again after Beans took off on a 1500-mile road trip seeking sun and girls-gone-wild fun in San Diego. Beans recently went missing, and the Sotomayor family papered their neighborhood with fliers hoping someone had spotted their sweet Tuxie. Their neighbor across the street had seen Beans–in San Diego.

The neighbors had packed up to move to California the day Beans disappeared. When they unpacked in San Diego, they got a little bonus: a black and white cat who just wanted to add a little Spring Break excitement to her life. Beans enjoyed a week or so in Sunny So Cal before being flown back to the heartland–and she brought some sunshine with her.

[PHOTO CREDIT: LJWorld.com; Cartoon by Skeezix the Cat]
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03/13/09

$27 Thrift Store Couch Comes with Free Feline Bonus
Karen Nichols

It must be calico cat stowaway week. First there was the story of Autumn, the cat who hid inside a mattress set and almost ended up in a landfill, and now the story of a calico in Spokane who was found by a couple who purchased a thrift store couch and found a free feline bonus inside. The cat had been trapped in the couch for 12 days. Here’s the story:



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And now the rest of the story…

Upon finding the cat, Vickie Mendenhall contacted the thrift store from whom she bought the couch, but they had no record of who had donated the couch. Next, she took the cat to SpokAnimal CARE, the animal shelter where she works, so the cat could recover, and contacted media outlets hoping to find the owner.

Her efforts paid off. Bob Killion of Spokane claimed the cat yesterday after a friend alerted him to the cat-in-a-couch TV story. Killion had donated a couch on Feb. 19, and his 9-year-old cat, Callie, disappeared at about the same time. Callie is back home and is expected to make a full recovery.

UPDATE: Catster Callie Jean found a followup video of Callie the Couch Cat being reunited with her family. Click here, then scroll through the stories under the video to see the couch cat story.

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03/09/09

Cat Survives a Week Trapped in Discarded Mattress
Karen Nichols

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(L to R) Wayne and Ann Crews with Autumn’s savior, Wilbert Davis. Ann is holding Autumn, “the mattress cat.”

Two-year-old Autumn the Cat nearly didn’t make it to Autumn this year, after being trapped for nearly a week inside a box spring and mattress.

The saga began when a Viriginia couple, Ann and Wayne Crews, had a new mattress and box spring delivered by Haynes Mattress Company. As the old set was being loaded on the truck, one of their cats, Zoie, leaped out from inside the box spring (which was taped to the mattress). About an hour after the truck left, the Crews realized that Autumn was nowhere to be found, and Zoie and their third cat, Miss Patty, were acting very strangely.

The other cats were going crazy,” said Ann. “They could tell something was wrong.”

The Crews contacted Haynes, who performed a search, but didn’t turn up a cat. Days went by. It seemed that Autumn had been abducted by aliens: there was no sign of her. A happy outcome seemed unlikely… that is, until Wilbert Davis entered the picture.

Davis works transporting old mattresses from a Williamsburg warehouse to a landfill in Suffolk. As he handles the Crews’ box spring, he felt something shift.

“When I moved that particular box spring, my spirit told me something wasn’t right,” he said.

He took the time to investigate, and found Autumn trapped inside the box spring, lying prone, with her front and back legs outstretched.

“I saw a purple collar. That’s when I knew it was a pet,” said Davis. “I was so shocked. I called the other person with me on the truck.” Then he phoned his warehouse manager and said, “You won’t believe this. There’s a cat inside this mattress set. It must belong to a customer.”

The mattress company went to work trying to track down the cat’s owners, while Davis ministered to Autumn. He asked co-workers for leftover lunch, bought food from a nearby store, and watered the thirsty cat.

Davis said that his compassion was based on his Christian beliefs. “I do things from the heart. It was all through God. I can’t take credit. God used me to do this.”

Ann Crews was very thankful for the kindness that Davis showed toward Autumn. The cat arrived back home via delivery truck on Saturday and after a trip to vet, received a clean bill of health. According to the Crews, Zoie and Miss Patty are “ecstatic” to have Autumn back.

Thank you, Wilbert Davis, for going the extra mile to save Autumn!

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