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For six months the cat's owners frantically search, until, at last, there is a breakthrough and a reunion.
By MARY SPICUZZA
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 27, 2002
HOLIDAY -- Red arrived in Holiday last Christmas Eve, a pampered New York house cat on a vacation.
The 4-year-old fluffy orange feline was found last week, shaken and world-weary -- but alive -- after nearly six months of life on the streets.
For Red, what was supposed to be a relaxing Florida getaway turned into a tale of survival.
For her owners, Paul and Emma Amoreisky of Long Island, and a devoted group of local pet lovers, the quest to find Red became a testament to the power of persistence.
"I just knew she was out there somewhere," said 58-year-old Emma Amoreisky.
Red vanished only 20 minutes after Paul and Emma Amoreisky arrived in Holiday to celebrate Christmas with relatives. Her mom's dog came inside the home to "give Red a kiss," Emma Amoreisky said.
The cat ran over the dog's back, out an open door, down the steps and into the night.
Emma and Paul Amoreisky followed. They searched through bushes, crawled under RVs, climbed on top of trailers, and walked for blocks looking for her.
"People thought we were crazy," Emma Amoreisky said. "Everybody else was singing Christmas carols. We were yelling for our cat."
They spent Christmas day searching, calling for Red. The following day they found her harness and lease, wrapped around a neighbor's grill.
They kept looking. Five days after Red disappeared, they found her pink collar next to a fence.
Emma Amoreisky said at that moment she realized she would be driving back to Long Island without her cat.
Mrs. Amoreisky arrived back in New York in early January, knowing her cat was lost and about 1,200 miles away. A less devoted pet owner may have given up hope.
Not Emma Amoreisky. A custodian for a New York middle school, Amoreisky describes herself as "aggressive."
And she aggressively searched for her cat. She spent more than $400 having color fliers made up, which she mailed to about 450 residents of the area. She placed an advertisement with a photograph of Red in the St. Petersburg Times, which ran every day until June 20, the day her cat finally was found. She said she spent more than $5,000 to find Red, but quickly added that pet owners can find a lost animal on a tighter budget.
As part of her search, she undertook a letter writing campaign to post offices, schools, restaurants, veterinarians and animal shelters throughout Pasco and Pinellas counties.
"My whole dining room was set up like a command center," Emma Amoreisky said. "I had maps, kept track of possible sightings. It was quite an experience."
The Amoreiskys drove to Florida four times when someone had found a cat that looked like Red. The couple even adopted an orange and white male cat, Thomas, on one journey. They bought a cell phone to save money on the daily calls to animal shelters in the Tampa Bay area.
"Emma called every day, you could set your clock to it," said Denise Eberius, who works in the office for the Humane Society of North Pinellas.
Eberius and Emma Amoreisky became close friends. Eberius made several trips on her days off to look for Red.
Emma Amoreisky said she received hundreds of telephone calls from people who saw orange cats. Others just called to offer their support.
Meanwhile, two calls came from men who told dramatic stories about Red's fate and demanded cash rewards. The Amoreiskys didn't pay.
But then they got some good news.
A Holiday couple, Jennifer Gentile and Charlie Schneebeli, had noticed their cat food was disappearing at a remarkable rate from their cats' food bowls in the kitchen. They set up a surveillance camera and discovered an orange and white cat sneaking through the cat door.
That was in April or May, about a month before the couple took their four cats to the vet and spotted one of the fliers for Red.
They called the Amoreiskys to report the news. Several failed rescue missions followed. Gentile and Schneebeli kept trapping their own cats. Red was trapped once but escaped. Then Doris Brown, a Holiday pet lover who had befriended Emma Amoreisky, borrowed a trap from Pasco County Animal Control. After Red was finally captured the night of June 20, Brown delivered the cat to the Humane Society of North Pinellas.
Eberius e-mailed photographs of the cat to Emma Amoreisky. The following day, the couple was in their car, making the 26-hour drive.
"We were holding our breath all day," Humane Society director Rick Chaboudy said. "I don't know if I've ever met anybody who went to the lengths the Amoreiskys did to get their cat back."
By Saturday afternoon, Emma Amoreisky was at the Human Society in Clearwater, peering at Red through the cage. Red had lost a lot of weight, dropping from 11 to 7 pounds.
"She had a look of deep sorrow in her eyes," Emma Amoreisky said. "She never had that look in her eyes before. And she was so little, it was like she shrank."
But when the couple spotted a crooked claw on one of the cat's paws, they knew it was Red.
Before they left for Long Island, Humane Society employees put an electronic chip in Red's shoulder in case she vanishes in the future.
The Amoreiskys stopped in Holiday to personally thank Brown and the couple who helped rescue Red. They also took out another advertisement in the St. Petersburg Times. It began, "Red is Home!! Many thanks to everyone involved with her return."
By Saturday night, they were back in their car driving to New York. While one person was driving, the other would sit "bonding, talking, and singing" to Red.
Red is now "de-stressing" in Long Island, and making trips to the vet for medical checkups.
"We set up our bedroom like a hospital for her," Emma Amoreisky said. "We have white sheets on the floor, white towels folded up for her. She's happy and safe now."
News of Red's return has spread quickly.
Pasco County Animal Control followed the story closely, knowing that most lost cats never see their owners again. Out of 5,000 cats taken to the county shelter in 2001, only 21 were reclaimed by their owners, animal control field supervisor Lynne Deddo said.
"We were like jumping beans in here when we found out," said Beth Lukens, a customer service specialist for Animal Control. "We don't see a lot of happy endings."
-- Staff writer Mary Spicuzza can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6232 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6232. Her e-mail address is spicuzza@sptimes.com.