GRAMERCY — Apparently it doesn't take nine lives to get from Colorado to New York City.
A cat that vanished in Colorado five years ago was found safe and sound thousands of miles away on East 20th Street on Sept. 7, thanks in part to a microchip, according to a spokesman for Animal Care & Control.
Willow, now 6-years-old, snuck out of her Boulder, Colo., home while the bathroom was being renovated, her owner, photographer Jamie Squires said Wednesday.
Five years later, she somehow ended up nearly 2,000 miles away unharmed. A passerby found her and turned her in.
"We were really surprised," Squires said. "We didn't tell our kids right away."
Squires had Animal Control send her a picture of the cat, and verify it through a microchip implanted in its skin when she was a kitten.
Squires said she microchips all her animals, including two dogs.
"It just makes sense," she said. "If I could, I would microchip my children."
Squires added she has no idea how the cat made it to the city, but suspects someone adopted it and drove it to New York at some point.
Willow is in good shape, but suffering from a cold, her owner explained.
The family is still figuring out how it is going to get her home. Squires said she may fly to New York to pick her up, or fly her back to Colorado via an animal transportation service, Pet Airways.
The Squires family was even in New York in the spring and stayed at the Plaza Hotel for a weekend.
"We had no idea at the time our cat was there, too."
