A family in Utah County, Utah, got a huge surprise just in time for Christmas that was over a decade in the making.
Laura and Cole Christensen adopted Mischa, a Russian Blue cat, 11 years ago after building their first home. They adopted her because they needed a trusty cat in case any mice came to their home from the wetlands nearby, ABC 4 reported on Friday.
However, the family was heartbroken when a few weeks later she bolted out the back door. They searched long and hard for Mischa, who was chipped, but did not have any luck finding her.
This year, in October, the family experienced a miracle when Laura got an email from the company that monitors Mischa’s chip notifying them that their feline had been found and was at a shelter in Lindon.
Laura initially thought the message was a mistake, but she was about to find out otherwise.
“I’m like, ‘No, no, no, this has gotta be wrong. Somebody messed up the chips or something has happened.’ And we went literally to the shelter, and sure enough, it was our cat,” she explained.
During those years away from her family, it appeared Mischa had endured much hardship. She was very thin, her fur was matted, she had fleas, and a wound on her shoulder turned out to be a tumor. However, it was easily removed and she is on the mend.
The Christensens have created a GoFundMe page to help in Mischa’s recovery.
An image shows their beloved pet recovering from her ordeal:
“We are hoping to cover our vet bills which are several thousand dollars. Anything over that will go back to the Best Friends Animal Society of Salt Lake City for all the good work they do,” the fundraising page reads.
The family believes she was either in the fields near their first home with the mice for all those years or another family cared for her.
When recalling the incredible story, Laura said, “If I hadn’t lived it, I honestly wouldn’t believe it.”
A similar instance happened in 2022 when a cat that went missing for eight years journeyed 2,000 miles to reunite with its family, per Breitbart News.