Anyone who loves a cat, or any pet, knows that once they have a piece of your heart, they become part of the family. So when a pet goes missing, that absence tugs at your heart in a way nothing else can. Recently, a local family experienced the joy of being reunited with their beloved cat, Panda, after he had been missing for over a year.
Panda went missing from 8th Street South near Lady Grey School in June of last year. His owner, Stacy Hoke, initially feared the worst. “I looked around a bit and called Little Mittens, but I just assumed a coyote or something got him,” Hoke said.
The disappearance was part of a larger, troubling pattern. Hoke noted that over a one-month period, five cats from her neighbourhood went missing from town and were found in Nicholson; it was theorized that someone was moving them there. “I don’t know who did it or why, but I can imagine the cats were likely in someone’s garden and they didn’t like it,” she said.
The Hoke family initially had one of their cats, Sharky, go missing, but he was found about a month later in Nicholson. So when Panda and their other cat, Rocky, went missing, their thoughts immediately turned to searching in Nicholson as well. Rocky was found there shortly afterward.
Panda, however, remained missing through the fall and winter. Hoke spent months walking the streets of Nicholson and posting on social media, hoping to find her beloved cat before winter set in. “When I didn’t find him, I figured we would never find him now — he would not make it through the winter,” she said.
The breakthrough finally came recently when a Facebook post showed Panda near Nicholson. Hoke immediately contacted the person who posted the photo. “I just knew it was him right away,” she said. Her daughter, overhearing the news, cried tears of excitement as they drove to bring Panda home.
The reunion was emotional. Panda was skittish at first and hesitant to be handled, a reaction Hoke attributes to the long time away. “He warmed up about three hours after we got him home,” she said. “He was just walking around the house crying for the first bit.”
Panda’s journey began as a kitten, one of several born to Hoke’s cat Rocky, who was herself rescued from a barn in Alberta. Hoke kept Panda and another kitten, Sharky, while finding homes for the others. Today, Panda has returned to his mellow, affectionate self, enjoying cuddles and relaxed meals.
While the whole family was thrilled to have Panda back, Stacy’s son, Cedar, is especially relieved. Panda was his cat primarily, and the two are close.
Community support played a crucial role in the reunion. Maria Scales, a local resident, helped locate the other missing cats and connected Hoke with volunteers, including a local drone operator, who assisted in the search.
The story of Panda’s return resonated with the Golden community. When the picture of the cat popped up online, the comments were filled with people celebrating and tagging Stacy. Hoke says the happy ending is a relief. “He is great. Totally back to his old, chilled-out self. Loves to eat and loves to cuddle,” she said.
The return of Panda is a slice of positive news we could all use more of and a testament to the strength of our community.
