Kim Shelton heard her cat’s cries all the way from Texas.
After a long weekend in the woods behind a south Forsyth gas station, her Bengal cat Cosmo was captured Tuesday night and soon will make the nearly 900-mile trek to her home.
Shelton said she received a call about 8 p.m. Tuesday from Lisa Matalban of the sheriff’s special services unit, which includes animal control.
Cosmo was in a cage set up next to the BP gas station at Hwy. 9 and Peachtree Parkway and he wasn’t happy about it.
“I could hear him in the background and I was just screaming,” said Shelton, who lives in Granbury, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, Texas.
Cosmo is 2 years old and weighs about 12 pounds. He’s silver and black, with markings that resemble those of a small leopard. He’s got a cry to match.
Shelton said the cat escaped Friday morning when the man she hired to deliver him from Florida stopped at the gas station. The driver, who was making other deliveries in the area, let the cat out after discovering the cage was dirty.
Shelton immediately reached out to local veterinarians, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Animal Control unit, local animal shelters, Craigslist and various rescue/pet forums online.
A woman who works for the Cat Clinic of North Georgia, not far from where Cosmo was found, set out the cage and put some chicken in it to appeal to the feline’s curiosity.
Doughnuts, which BP employees said they had been feeding the cat over the weekend, may also have done the trick.
Shelton said she had a “network of angels” looking for Cosmo and purred with gratitude for their help.
“Everybody just went above and beyond and I’m just so grateful,” Shelton said.
Sheriff’s Lt. David Waters said they will hold Cosmo until Shelton can make arrangements to have him sent home.
Shelton has hired someone else to bring Cosmo to her and hopes to have him back this weekend.
She described Cosmo as gentle and friendly, with an affinity for turkey. She is rescuing him from a breeder who could no longer keep him. The cat will join his brother, Bijou, and two other Bengals at her home.
“He’s a sweetheart, I can’t wait to get him,” Shelton said. “It’s a happy ending!”
In her excitement, she got online to e-mail those who had helped her and forgot dinner was in the oven.
She said her husband muttered something about “burnt chicken again tonight,” to which she laughed.
“It wasn’t that burned,” she said.
E-mail Julie Arrington at juliearrington@forsythnews.com.
After a long weekend in the woods behind a south Forsyth gas station, her Bengal cat Cosmo was captured Tuesday night and soon will make the nearly 900-mile trek to her home.
Shelton said she received a call about 8 p.m. Tuesday from Lisa Matalban of the sheriff’s special services unit, which includes animal control.
Cosmo was in a cage set up next to the BP gas station at Hwy. 9 and Peachtree Parkway and he wasn’t happy about it.
“I could hear him in the background and I was just screaming,” said Shelton, who lives in Granbury, about an hour southwest of Fort Worth, Texas.
Cosmo is 2 years old and weighs about 12 pounds. He’s silver and black, with markings that resemble those of a small leopard. He’s got a cry to match.
Shelton said the cat escaped Friday morning when the man she hired to deliver him from Florida stopped at the gas station. The driver, who was making other deliveries in the area, let the cat out after discovering the cage was dirty.
Shelton immediately reached out to local veterinarians, the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Animal Control unit, local animal shelters, Craigslist and various rescue/pet forums online.
A woman who works for the Cat Clinic of North Georgia, not far from where Cosmo was found, set out the cage and put some chicken in it to appeal to the feline’s curiosity.
Doughnuts, which BP employees said they had been feeding the cat over the weekend, may also have done the trick.
Shelton said she had a “network of angels” looking for Cosmo and purred with gratitude for their help.
“Everybody just went above and beyond and I’m just so grateful,” Shelton said.
Sheriff’s Lt. David Waters said they will hold Cosmo until Shelton can make arrangements to have him sent home.
Shelton has hired someone else to bring Cosmo to her and hopes to have him back this weekend.
She described Cosmo as gentle and friendly, with an affinity for turkey. She is rescuing him from a breeder who could no longer keep him. The cat will join his brother, Bijou, and two other Bengals at her home.
“He’s a sweetheart, I can’t wait to get him,” Shelton said. “It’s a happy ending!”
In her excitement, she got online to e-mail those who had helped her and forgot dinner was in the oven.
She said her husband muttered something about “burnt chicken again tonight,” to which she laughed.
“It wasn’t that burned,” she said.
E-mail Julie Arrington at juliearrington@forsythnews.com.