“My four-year-old son, Finley, named our cat Cuckoo Loca after the tweety-bird who lives in a cuckoo clock in the Mickey Mouse cartoons,” said Brandi. “On our way home from adopting her, she curled up on my son’s lap. To this day, she enjoys car rides with our family. As we are leaving the house, she runs after us indicating that she wants to join us.”
The plan worked great until earlier this month! Brandi put the children and cat into the car and off they went to grab a coffee. No one was planning on getting out of the car, so Cuckoo was not wearing her harness.
They drove through the coffee shop line with Cuckoo “happily chilling on the center console,” said Brandi. “Finley, rolled down his window to chat with the staff. Everything was normal until something spooked her and she jumped out of the window and disappeared.”
The panicked family drove around looking. No luck. Everyone focused on finding their kitty. But she had vanished.
“It was raining, there was heavy traffic, so I knew she would be hiding,” said Brandi. “We left our phone number with the coffee shop staff and went home.”
Hours later, a Carl's Jr. employee found their kitten cowering outside their business. Another employee sat with her in her car until the Humane Society arrived. The ‘missing wet passenger’ was placed in a kennel at the This n That Shop.
“The Humane Society contacted me from my LOST post on ‘What's Going On In Cottage Grove, Oregon’ Facebook page,” said Brandi. “I went to pick her up the next morning with two excited children in tow. Our little Cuckoo Loca was curled up in the corner of a kennel. She instantly recognized us, stood up, and came to give us kisses. She is so happy to be back with us. My son cried in the car on our way home because he wanted to hold her, but she was safely nestled in a cat carrier this
time.
When we got home Cuckoo greeted our other cat (who wasn't very happy to see her back) and our dog who didn't care, then she ran over to her food bowl and ate her heart out.
She is a great cat. The kids adore her and she always wants to be with her people, even when we don't want her to be, but she’s purr-sistant until she wins. She loves adventures but we all need some sleep after her last one!”
