Missing for 15 years, Siamese cat reunites with long-lost owner in North Carolina

For most of Paige Carew’s life, her family’s pet Siamese cat, Aspen, was just a childhood memory.

Carew recalls how Aspen, “quite the little shadow,” would follow her mother around, and how she loved to snuggle with everyone, even the dog. But one day, when Carew was 9 years old, Aspen disappeared.

She and her sister searched the neighborhood. Put up notices. Arranged Aspen’s bed and litter box outside in the hope she could pick up the scent and follow it home, Carew told McClatchy News.

They might have knocked on some doors, too, if they’d known their neighbors better, Carew said, but they had just moved in.

Some neighbors had already introduced themselves -- the coyotes, the hawks, the owls, they seemed to reside all around. Seemed likely they’d met Aspen, too.

So after days of looking, with no sign of the Siamese, it was pretty clear what had happened.

“We lost hope kinda quickly,” Carew said.

Fifteen years pass. Carew is 24 years old, her sister is 27 and married. Out of the blue, their mother gets a phone call -- the long-lost family cat had been found.

Carew’s mother was sure it was a scam, but Carew called the number back to see for herself.

“I called my sister and she was freaking out, once she remembered that we had a cat named Aspen.”

Just hours later she met the caller, 20-year-old Alayna Galantis, and was reunited with Aspen after 15 years.

Galantis had just finished her shift at Harris Teeter and made a beeline to a friend’s place to adopt a Siamese stray that had made itself at home.

“It seemed alright, which was rather surprising since no one can be sure where she had been for the past 15 years,” Galantis told McClatchy News. “So for only having a few fleas and being covered in dirt, she looked great!”

She fed it, cleaned it and dried it, and took it to a veterinarian who soon discovered the cat was no stray. It was microchipped.

With that, they were able to track down the original owners.

Galantis admits she was a little sad to part ways with Aspen but is happy to see her reunited.

“This just doesn’t happen every day,” she said. “I just felt like I had done a really good thing for people, which seems really difficult during this weird time of being told to stay home every day.”

Carew isn’t sure if Aspen remembers her, or if the old Siamese just has a friendly disposition.

“She’s just a super sweet cat, so it’s kinda hard to tell,” she said.

Either way, it’s good to have her back, she said.

This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Missing for 15 years, Siamese cat reunites with long-lost owner in North Carolina."