Cat missing for a decade found, reunited with family in Colorado after microchip scan

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — In 2016, an orange cat bolted out the front door of his family’s home in Colorado Springs and disappeared. Last week, nearly a decade after he went missing, a routine microchip scan led him to finally be reunited with his family, who say after all these years they never thought the reunion would come.

The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) said Kennedy, an orange cat “with a healthy sense of independence,” went missing from his home ten years ago after he bolted out the front door and didn’t come back. His family searched extensively, posting flyers and filing reports, but over time, leads ran out.

“After years of waiting, his family had to accept the heartbreaking possibility that their little orange adventurer might be gone forever,” the shelter said.

Until about a week ago.

Ten years after Kennedy’s disappearance, a Good Samaritan brought an orange cat into HSPPR, who they said had been roaming their neighborhood for months.

Staff scanned him for identification, which is when they discovered a registered microchip containing his name and the contact information of the family, who had reported him missing over a decade earlier.

“Kennedy’s family could hardly believe what they were hearing. After ten long years, their cat, their baby, their 2016 mystery, was finally coming home,” HSPPR said in a social media post.

The shelter says stories like Kennedy’s are exactly why microchips are so crucial. Unlike collars or tags, microchips provide permanent identification that cannot be lost or removed. Clinics and shelters also routinely scan found animals, making microchips one of the most reliable ways to reconnect pets with their owners – even years later.

“When a pet gets separated from their people, a microchip gives us the fastest, easiest way to bring them back where they belong,” the shelter said.