Ollie the cat has reunited with his owner in Prince George and will be traveling to his home in Florida today.
As Ollie's unfurry family was moving from Alaska to Florida, they made a stop at Pine Centre Mall on July 4. That's when it is believed that Ollie disappeared.
His absence wasn't discovered until a stop in McLeese Lake hours later and the family made the decision not to return to Prince George but to carry on to the family father's new job waiting in Florida.
"He was so upset," Detra Narrigan said of her husband Joe. "I was crying, the kids were crying, they were begging. It was a tough decision but he made the right one. We had to get to Florida for his job."
Narrigan's oldest daughter, Ashley, turned to social media to reach out to the Prince George community to see if anyone had seen the cat. After six weeks Ollie found his way into the backyard of Carolyn Hastey while her daughter Amy was visiting.
"Ironically, they didn't know he was a missing cat when he came into the backyard," said Narrigan. "He was just meowing and meowing and begging them for help and Ollie went to Amy's side and she said she couldn't ignore him any longer - they thought he was just a neighbour's cat - they couldn't see how skinny he was because he has all this fur."
Amy didn't realize how thin Ollie was until she picked him up. When she realized that meant he was probably a lost cat, she put his picture on Facebook.
In the meantime, Cindy Lynum had taken up the cause to find Ollie, distributing posters, searching extensively and she was Narrigan's Prince George connection.
"She kept the search for Ollie in Prince George alive and she was the administrator of the Facebook page for him," said Narrigan.
When Amy posted the picture of Ollie, Cindy's Facebook followers knew who that anonymous cat had to be, she added.
"It only took a few minutes and Carolyn and I were on the phone with each other," said Narrigan.
Hastey kept him safe until Narrigan came from Florida on Thursday to get Ollie.
Animal lover Brenda Colebrook, another local resident, saw the story in the Citizen and immediately reached out to Narrigan to see what she could do to help. Brenda offered Narrigan a place to stay while she was in Prince George to collect Ollie.
Colebrook said the reunion between beloved pet and owner was overwhelming for her to witness.
"You know what? It was amazing," she said with tears unabashedly streaming down her face. "I had been there before and I know Ollie often watches the door to see who was coming into the house - there were many searchers who came to see him once he was found. He was lying on the couch and when Detra got down close to him, she was very respectful because she went slowly and she put her face down to his and then he reached up and put his nose to her face and I am an animal person and I can honestly say that was when he knew that was his person.
"It was beautiful. That was his moment of recognition and I was honoured to have seen it."
Narrigan is very grateful to the Prince George community for all the incredible efforts made on her and Ollie's behalf.
"The most important thing for me is to convey my gratitude to everyone in Prince George," she said. "We are just overwhelmed with their generosity - people gave their time, their hearts, their resources and people donated money to add to the reward we offered. People donated to help get Ollie home and Westjet gave me a discount to be able to come out here and get Ollie. And Cindy for everything she has done and I can't even talk about Brenda without getting overwhelmed but to say the very least I have made lifelong friends here that I will cherish forever."
Ollie has a litter mate at home - a brother - Marlie. The two had been inseparable since they came to live with Narrigan's family when they were only a few weeks old. They turned six years old on July 15. Narrigan knows that will be a sight to see when they are reunited.
