When a pet disappears for an extended period, maintaining hope can be challenging. Yet, Claudia Arnold never lost faith that her cat, Cursor, would return one day.
Cursor vanished when Claudia was only two years old. Her mother, Kara Arnold, quickly began distributing missing cat posters throughout the neighborhood and frequently posted on Facebook, not just for months but for years after Cursor’s disappearance.
Young Claudia cried often over her missing cat and felt a pang of sadness whenever Cursor was mentioned. Despite the passage of time, Kara continued her Facebook posts for three years, with her last update posted in June. By August of the third year, someone from the Nanaimo SPCA contacted Kara, suggesting they had a cat resembling Cursor.
“I wasn’t sure from the picture because it was kind of a weird angle,” Arnold said. “But then she posted a video of him at the SPCA and I was like ‘that is our cat.’”
Kara wanted to surprise Claudia with Cursor’s return, so she brought her to the SPCA without revealing the potential reunion. “I didn’t want her to be disappointed if it wasn’t him before we knew for sure,” she explained. The SPCA decided to film Claudia’s meeting with the cat just in case it was a heartwarming reunion.
At the shelter, staff asked Claudia if she liked cats and what type she preferred. They then asked if she liked calico cats, to which Claudia replied that she used to have one. “Does it look like this?” the shelter employee asked, revealing Cursor.
Despite her young age when Cursor went missing and the years that had passed, Claudia immediately recognized her old friend. She gasped, covered her mouth with her hand, and broke into a big smile before hugging him tightly.
“I missed you so much, Cursor,” Claudia said as she cuddled her cat. “Thank you for giving my kitty back,” she gratefully told the shelter staff.
The SPCA was delighted to reunite Claudia and Cursor. “It’s so nice to see the smile on a little girl’s face,” SPCA branch manager Leon Davis told Nanaimo News Bulletin. “This can be a tough job emotionally sometimes, but it is these little glimmers of hope and joy in a child’s face that makes it all worthwhile.”
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When asked how long it had been since she last saw Cursor, Claudia guessed about eight months. “I love you, Cursor,” she said, thanking the staff again. In reality, it had been three whole years. Cursor was only at the SPCA briefly before reuniting with his family, having been found near the Westwood Lake area. Where he had been for those three years remains a mystery.