When Karen Turner, a proud 50-year-old cat mom, saw a black cat carcass on the side of the road, she was certain it was her beloved Sammy, who had gone missing the day before.
Heartbroken, she scooped up the cat’s body and took it to her father John’s home for a proper burial.
She would’ve buried it in her own yard because she owned a mischievous Jack Russell Terrier named Alfie, she feared he might dig up Sammy’s body.
Together, Karen and her father dug a hole in his backyard, placed the cat beneath a cairn, and made a cross from two pieces of wood. They engraved it with ‘Sammy, loved by all’ and set it in the ground.
However, a few hours after returning home, Karen realized she had made a huge mistake.
When Karen walked through the front door of her house, she heard rustling sounds coming from the kitchen. Thinking it was her other kitty, Jack, she initially dismissed the noise, but then something shocking happened.
Following Jack through the flap door was none other than her beloved Sammy. Karen couldn’t believe her eyes: Had she just buried someone else’s cat??
In a conversation with Metro News, Karen recounted the event, saying:
“I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I was almost hysterical and found myself scolding Sam like he was a naughty little boy. I was saying to him, ‘You are supposed to be [deceased]. Where the heck have you been?’”
Karen was amazed by the striking resemblance between Sammy and the cat she and her father had buried – they even had the same white stripes on their fur!
Overjoyed to see Sammy alive but saddened that someone else’s cat had passed, she decided to seek out the late cat’s owner to inform them of the mix-up.
Karen spent hours on her village’s Facebook community site until she discovered a post by Lister De Lara Taylor, a pensioner from her neighborhood, about her missing nine-year-old cat, Maurice.
Karen decided to call Mrs. De Lara Taylor to break the sad news. Over the phone, they agreed that Maurice should be exhumed from Karen’s father’s garden for cremation, alongside Mrs. De Lara Taylor’s previously deceased pets.
Reflecting on the event, Mrs. De Lara Taylor said:
“I was so sad, but when Karen told me the lengths they had gone to, giving my lovely boy such a decent sent-off, I was extremely moved by their kindness. I gave Karen and her father my most heartfelt thanks.”
She added:
“Now Maurice is with all his friends, all my other pets, and I am so grateful.”
Even though I’m sad about Maurice’s passing, the fact that sweet Sammy turned out to be alive really makes me happy.
Some feline stories are simply full of wonders, reminding us that there’s never a dull moment with our furry companions in our lives.
