EDGEWATER — When Betty Seran made a quick stop in Edgewater to see friends during a trip from Iowa to Michigan, her 4-year-old cat, Tiger, began to cry — miffed from being confined during the car ride.
Sympathetic, 92-year-old Seran unzipped the carrier to pet and comfort her loyal companion — an affectionate orange tabby cat who'd recently been helping her cope with tragedy and illness.
Then, in a flash, Tiger was gone.
"She looked everywhere, all around the house, he was just gone," said Teri Rose, Seran's daughter, who lives in Nashville.
Seran was due in Michigan to get treatment for health issues and had to make the heartbreaking decision to go forward with the trip knowing her beloved cat was lost in a foreign state.
Rose said she quickly began putting together and disseminating information online, creating fliers, social media posts and sharing information with rescue groups.
Signs were posted on nearly every pole on the Far North Side. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Local resident Karin Nangreave said she came across Rose's plea for help while perusing a website that posts information about lost cats.
A core group of at least 7 or 8 neighbors gathered, including Nangreave, who started a discussion group through social media to help out. They kept in constant contact, trading "on watch" shifts, posting fliers, searching by foot and reaching out to area veterinarians to see if anyone had dropped off the microchipped cat.
Had that been the case, any veterinary clinic or shelter could scan the cat's microchip and gain information about the cat's owner.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts — at times searching until 2 or 3 a.m. — Tiger was still roaming the neighborhood.
Tiger, the handsome cat, waits to be reunited with his owner, Betty Seran. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
Meanwhile, Seran waited in Michigan, lonely and distraught, dreaming of the day she'd see her feline friend again.
"It was horrible for her, it was very painful, she told me, 'People don't really see how much I hurt over this,'" Rose said. "She's just someone who deals with it very quietly, he was her baby. They had all their little routines, they were so much fun to watch."
There had been some sightings, said Pam Zuspann, another resident who helped start the ad hoc cat search party. When people called in with tips, the group would carefully plot how to examine the area, sometimes going so far as to use thermal cameras to detect the cat's body heat behind shrubbery.
"I do this a lot," said Zuspann, laughing. The Andersonville resident began taking on cases of lost cats in the neighborhood last year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. "It really helped me get through that tough period."
Now she said she's just returning the favor to another woman in need.
After 20 days of continued searching, Zuspann said her group got a tip from nearby neighbors who had spotted Tiger near their alley throughout the day.
Neighbors who helped organize the group that searched for Tiger. [Pam Zuspann]
Around 9:30 p.m., she and two other volunteers staked out the neighbor's backyard, flashlights in hand and using cellphones like walkie-talkies.
They had identified and surrounded Tiger in the yard, and were waiting in position.
After a few minutes of sweet talk to draw him out from hiding, the women moved to grab him by the scruff and in one fell swoop dropped him into a carrier.
Nearly three weeks after a visiting cat went missing in a state far away from his home and owner, Tiger's journey around Edgewater had come to an end.
"These people and what they did is just so incredible to me, that people are so caring and have such big hearts, that's the thing that was so incredible," Rose said. "It's amazing, I mean, nobody thought he'd be found."
Volunteer Elly Greenspahn made a vet appointment right after Tiger was found to make sure he was still in good health. [Pam Zuspann]
When the news made its way to Michigan, Seran was in a state of happy disbelief, Rose said, though there was still the matter of physically reuniting Tiger with his loving owner.
Again, neighbors swooped into action: Zuspann agreed to rent a car (courtesy of Seran's family) and make the 5½ hour drive to Seran in Michigan, and then back home, on Friday.
She'll be greeted with a celebratory cookout and the opportunity to reunite an ill, elderly woman with the furry best friend she's missed so much.
Seran wasn't available for comment, but in a statement online she said that she's forever grateful for those who helped bring Tiger home.
"I want to thank [volunteers] so very much for helping me find my cat that I love so much. I am so grateful to have such kind and thoughtful friends,” Seran said.
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