Stuart family cared for missing cat eventually reunited with owner after 14 years

"Come here! It's our cat!"

Lisa Wadsworth rushed to the TV and couldn't believe her eyes.

But there he was — Thomas Jr., T2 for short — curled up on the lap of his owner, Fort Pierce resident Perry Martin, after the two had been reunited after 14 years. The cat went missing in Stuart after Hurricane Jeanne.

It was the happy ending Wadsworth was hoping for, as unbelievable as it was.

Two weeks earlier, the orange tabby wandered — well, hobbled, really — into Wadsworth's life, and the lives of her two children, Lauren, 13, and Quin, 11.

The trio fed, bathed and cared for the cat, eventually taking him to the vet, unknowingly becoming one of the best chapters of the ultimate animal rescue story.

"We didn't think we'd ever know what happened to him, or we were afraid to know," she said.

On March 5, the stray strolled up to the family's Stuart home — they live off Salerno Road near Kanner Highway — and instantly won them over.

"He was emaciated and walking funny," she said. "But he was the sweetest cat I'd ever met."

Wadsworth said she actually thought T2 was a kitten because of his size. She also figured he was a neighbor's pet because he was approachable and friendly.

The cat remained at their home but stayed outside — the family's dog isn't fond of cats — but Lauren and Quin spent time with him, fed him wet food and even gave him a bath.

"He loved that bath," Wadsworth said.

More: Cat missing for 14 years reunited with owner at Humane Society of the Treasure Coast

Lauren and Quin named him "Ginger."

But Wadsworth warned her children not to get attached; they couldn't tell how sick he was or if he had rabies.

Wadsworth suggested they take the cat to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, but Quin insisted he be examined by the family's vet, Dr. Stanley Hopek.

"My son said, 'Mom, he's sick. We need to get him taken care of and treated. I'll pay for it.' "

Quin called the Stuart veterinarian on his own, explained the cat's behavior, and on March 8, after the children returned home from school, the family took in T2 for a check-up.

The first thing Hopek did was check the cat for a microchip.

"Everyone was shocked he had a chip," Wadsworth said.

That's when they found out he was about 18 years old.

The microchip's unique ID listed three different phone numbers for his owner. Two were disconnected and no one answered the third number.

"Honestly, we thought he was a dump job," she said. "We thought since the cat wasn't in good shape that someone left him there. I thought, 'Do I even want him back with his owner?' "

The family left the cat with Hopek. He needed to be treated and watched and then given to Martin County Animal Control.

Wadsworth said she'd call the vet's office in a few days to check on the cat, but before she could do that, she saw the news story about T2 being reunited with Martin.

By then, lots of people across the country learned about T2's 14-year journey, too.

The story gained national attention. It was picked up by several television news channels, newspapers, websites and rescue organizations throughout the United States.

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Martin, a retired canine officer with the Fort Pierce Police Department, said Thursday that he's in awe over everything that's happened, from getting T2 back to the attention the pair's story has received.

"I'm so happy our story's out there, especially the information about microchips because it's so important," he said.

T2's life just got a whole lot better, Martin said, but he's still 18 years old.

"I am tickled to death he's home," Martin said. "He's not in great shape, but neither am I."

Martin said he's grown pretty attached to T2 again, and so has golden retriever, Sassy.

"Who knows how long he'll be here, but even if he passes away tomorrow, at least he came home to go over that bridge," he said.

T2 has a vet appointment Friday, so Martin said he should get a "good read off of him to see where he is health-wise."

For Wadsworth, finding T2 was a miracle. She called it divine intervention.

"Why were we picked?" she asked. "Somehow, he knew we were going to help him."

"And the fact that he's going to be loved and be inside a home that we couldn't give to him, he deserves to be on someone's lap," she said.

Maureen Kenyon is TCPalm's trends reporter, keeping Treasure Coast residents updated on hot topics and happenings. Do you have a story to tell? Want to start a conversation? Send an email to maureen.kenyon@tcpalm.com, call 772-221-4249 or follow her on Twitter @_MaureenKenyon_.