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POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — A Pocatello boy's reunion with his lost cat has left a neighborhood girl begging for her pet back for Christmas.
A grey-haired cat named Fred was reunited with his family last month after he went missing for five years, but the family who cared for him by the name Rowdy has been searching for the cat for the past month, The Idaho State Journal reports (http://bit.ly/21Mdyz3).
Brandy Bennett and her three daughters adopted what they thought was a stray five years ago and were worried when he didn't come home. The cat was fond of roaming, but always returned after his adventures.
"We have been searching for him the past four weeks," Bennett said.
Bennett said she recognized Rowdy when the media covered his reunion with Connie Keizenbeck-Wells and her family.
Fred, nee Rowdy, was taken to the Pocatello Animal Shelter last month when he wandered too far from the Bennett home. When the shelter scanned his microchip, Keizenbeck-Wells' phone number was listed as the contact.
When Fred came back, Keizenbeck-Wells' son Raj was ecstatic. He picked Fred out from the shelter when the boy was only 4 years old. Less than a year after they adopted the cat, he disappeared.
It appears Fred was on one of his typical jaunts when the Bennetts found him in their neighborhood. They left food outside and he stayed around. Once winter set in, Bennett brought him inside and he became a member of the family. She said the youngest of her three daughters desperately misses Rowdy.
"She told me she'd give up her Christmas to get him back," Bennett said.
Keizenbeck-Wells said she's grateful that Bennett took care of Fred, but that she's not willing to part with her son's pet again. Raj thinks of Fred's return as a great Christmas present.
"He lost his cat once and I'm not going to do that to him again," she said.
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Information from: Idaho State Journal, http://www.journalnet.com
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