Penn Township siblings reunite neighbors with missing cat
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Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, see thepenn-traffordstar.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.
When 12-year-old Mia Prosdocimo of Penn Township realized she had successfully rescued a neighbor’s cat that had been missing for six months, she was in shock.
The Penn-Trafford seventh grader, with the help of her siblings, rescued Chewy, a 6-year-old cat who went missing in March from its Sunrise Drive home.
“I was almost like silent, and then I totally flipped out like ‘Oh my gosh, we found Chewy,’” Mia said. “It’s been six months, and it’s just been out there. I was just really surprised, I was really happy, and even now I’m still shocked that we found it.”
Chewy’s owners, Bill and Sherry Michael, who live down the street from Mia, immediately began putting up posters in their neighborhood after realizing their pet was missing. They also set up animal-friendly traps in hopes of catching the feline, but after months of fruitless tips and traps filled with hungry raccoons, they had nearly given up hope.
That was until one August afternoon when Mia’s father, Steve, spotted a stray cat outside their home.
“He saw a cat, and then my mom was calling it and she said, ‘Mia, why don’t you go out there and see if it’s Chewy,’” she said. “So we’re out there, and I just keep calling it and calling it. I asked my sister to go get some treats for it and, once we shook the bag, it literally came running up to us and just ate right out of our hands.”
After successfully capturing the cat, Mia, along with her 10-year-old brother Rocco and 7-year-old sister Kayla, took the wayward feline a few doors down to Sherry Michael’s home, knowing it looked similar to the one pictured on their posters.
“We told her, ‘We think we found Chewy,’ but then I also told her ‘I don’t want you to get your hopes up in case it isn’t,’” Mia said.
After looking at the cat, Sherry Michael said she was unable to determine whether it was Chewy because the cat had lost weight and some fur along its tail.
She took the cat to a veterinarian to see whether it had a microchip like Chewy. It was a match.
Eventually, the Michaels took Chewy to Holiday Park Animal Hospital in Plum, where he received medication and a battery of tests to ensure he hadn’t contracted any diseases while living outdoors. The couple worked to build up Chewy’s strength and reintroduce him to their home and their other cat, Peanut.
“It took about a week before I think they actually recognized each other, and now they’re buddy-buddy again,” Sherry Michael said. “It’s a happy ending.”
While Sherry Michael is happy to have Chewy back home, one thing sticks with her from the experience.
“I just couldn’t believe the compassion and the outreach of Sunrise Estates (neighbors) and even those over on Government Road,” she said. “Everybody was just more than willing to do anything they could to help us.”