A family is set to reunite after Lincoln man cares for missing cat

A cat missing for months has been found and will soon be reunited with her owners who are thousands of miles away.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Now here’s a heartwarming and hopeful story.

A cat missing for months has been found and will soon be reunited with her owners who are thousands of miles away.

Some may find it ironic that when a Lincoln man was walking by a heart statue, he found a lost cat in need of some love and care.

Sam found a lost black cat whose name is Zipporah near 12th and High streets.

“She was starving and I was the one taking care of her, said Sam Mitchell-Sturgeon. “It sounds a little cheesy, but in a way, I think she really helped me a lot too.”

Sam says the cat helped him get through a tough time in his life.

After giving her shelter and food for about two weeks, Zipporah became sick.

After taking her to a vet, they found she was microchipped, had a family, and had been missing for almost 3 months.

The vet was able to contact the cat’s original family who were ecstatic to know that she was alive!

“We thought she was dead, like, you know, and we were just like, it was it’s sad, you know,” said Harold Alomia. “But yeah, so it was shocking and so nice to know that somebody was taking care of her that way.”

Zipporah’s family recently moved to Seattle after searching for the cat and thought foxes in the Lincoln area got her.

Sam’s mother helped care for the cat and posted it to Facebook lost and found pet groups. It now has 2,000 likes becoming a locally popular story of hope.

“Somebody else reached out can you put this on our page, because people want to hear,” said Shannon Mitchell -Boekstal. “These people who are sad about their babies being missing their fur babies being missing want to hear that there’s people out there caring for them. But also there’s hope that your baby might come back. Your fur baby might come back.”

Though it is bittersweet, Sam hopes to meet the family of Zipporah and eventually adopt a cat of his own.
As a pastor, Harold says this is proof of hope in troubling times.

“You know He’s taking care of us, even of our, of our pets,” said Alomia. “You know, the members of the family that sometimes are there and it’s just a beautiful story of how God goes to every extent and how community is also very vital.”

Alomia is set to pick up the family pet next weekend as his six-year-old daughter is excited to see Zipporah.