Crookshanks the Cat

“We never would have seen Crookshanks again if it wasn’t for his microchip!” said Heidi, Crookshanks owner. Thankfully, Crookshanks the American Shorthair Cat, was reunited with his long-lost family after spending nearly four months in the Arizona desert!

Crookshanks, the indoor and outdoor cat, is well-known for his friendly disposition in his local neighborhood, especially by his elderly neighbors who Crookshanks often visits. He’s even been known to jump up in their laps for extra cuddles!

Unfortunately, Crookshanks disappeared over the July 4^th weekend and was nowhere to be found. His family would find out 4 months later that he had sadly been cat-napped and dumped in the Arizona desert! “He didn’t come home that night, which wasn’t unheard of but was very unusual for him,” said Heidi. “We gave him a couple of days to come home before we began to truly worry and realized something bad had happened. We then reported him missing to AKC Reunite, registered him as missing to the Arizona Humane [Animal] Control, announced to our neighborhood Facebook page that he was missing, printed posters, etc.”

Crookshanks was spotted near the Granite Reef Dam by the area caretaker, nearly 12 miles from home. As it turns out, this area is a popular “dumping” site for many stray cats and dogs, and Crookshanks had been dumped there! The area caretaker and several workers had spotted him multiple times but, on every attempt to capture him, Crookshanks would take off. Thankfully, after months of warming up to a kind worker who regularly rescues these dumped pets, Crookshanks the malnourished and injured cat, was captured with the help of some tuna and a live trap.

After missing for four months, Crookshanks’ family never imagined they’d see their beloved feline again, that is until they received a very special call! Crookshanks was safe!

“In all the years that this kind family had been rescuing these dumped animals [at the dam] they had never once encountered one who was microchipped, so they didn’t even think to go get him scanned,” said Heidi. Instead they kept him quarantined in their house, helping him gain weight and feel safe around humans again. They absolutely fell in love with him and were planning on keeping him instead of just fostering, until his injury got worse!”

“They rushed him to the emergency vet, and it was there that they scanned him and discovered he was microchipped! The whole family cried that morning we got the call. I didn’t fully believe it until I picked him up. He is in remarkable shape for surviving that long in 110+ degree Fahrenheit temperatures with known bobcats, coyotes, and even a mountain lion in the area…Only his microchip could have brought him home to us though. I am extremely grateful to the family who saved him, and I am extremely grateful that I made the choice to provide a way of coming home to us that would never fall off or be lost like the many collars he has had over the years!”