Feya, a 12 lbs. tortoiseshell cat, was found on Johns Island and brought into Charleston Animal Society (CAS) for rescue on February 25, 2024. That’s when CAS team turned up something very important – Feya had been reported missing in Mt. Pleasant, five years earlier.
Thankfully, Feya was microchipped, but the phone number to her owner, Alexandra Struthers, no longer worked.
“Thank God I put my sister as an emergency backup,” Struthers said.
When her sister called her, Struthers said all she heard on the other end was, “Oh my God, Oh, my God, Oh my God!” When Struthers’s sister calmed down, Struthers couldn’t believe what she was hearing, Feya had been found.
“I had a bit of a brain freeze,” she said.
For weeks after Feya went missing in 2019, Struthers and her family and friends had put up posters, posted online, and went door-to-door, along with checking in at local shelters.
It was a tearful reunion at Charleston Animal Society. Feya was in rough shape; underweight with injured paws and thinning fur, but Struthers was overwhelmed to see that Feya recognized her, purring as Struthers said hello after five years. Since the reunion, Feya has been slowly introduced to her dog and cat siblings.
Still puzzling Struthers is how Feya made it the 15 miles to Johns Island.
“All I know is Charleston Animal Society is fantastic," she said. "They put so much effort into finding me.”
It’s a lesson for everyone to not only microchip pets, but to also keep the chip updated with new phone numbers and addresses.
“She’s a miracle cat,” said Struthers.
