SALISBURY, Mass. — Gus, a domestic short-haired cat with responsive ears and a button nose, is back in his lower Manhattan digs.
For more than five months — or about five years in terms of cat time — Gus has been pretty much living on his own -- lost and alone.
Gus, however, was on his way back to the Big Apple this week after his owners, David and Lynn Ghesquiere, picked him up from the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society.
The last time the Ghesquieres had seen Gus was in August. They were heading back to New York City from a summer trip to Nova Scotia, Canada, when they ran out of gas right at the rest stop.
Fearful that Gus may be suffering from the searing summer heat, Lynn Ghesquiere lowered one of the windows enough to draw in some air for her cat.
But the agile cat seized the opportunity and was able to wiggle his way through the open window and jumped out of the car. Before the startled couple had a chance to stop him, Gus disappeared.
About a month ago, a Merrimac police animal control officer found Gus. Unable to locate a microchip on the cat, she held on to Gus and began looking for his owners or someone who might be willing to adopt him.
With no initial luck, the pet was taken to a no-kill shelter,
Liz Pease, director of operations at the shelter, said she and her staff tried again to scan Gus for a microchip and eventually found it.
A few days ago, the Ghesquieres received calls in quick succession from Pease and the company that sold them the microchip alerting them that Gus had been found safe and sound.
“It’s a miracle,” Lynn Ghesquiere said.
Lynn Ghesquiere said Gus won’t escape a second time. “I’m going to keep an eye on him all the time,”
For his part, Gus seemed unmoved by his owner’s declaration as he kept his eyes focused on the floor and his tail noticeably still.
---
Details for this story were provided by the Newburyport (Mass.) News.
