Woman Blanketed Area With Posters & Ads, Never Losing Hope That Her Missing Cat Would Return

How do you measure hope? For Jeri Weltner, it was exactly 100 days, 2,400 hours, 144,000 minutes, and 8,640,000 seconds of never giving up.

Weltner’s 12-year-old cat Buddy who she has had since he was a kitten after just showing up at her one day at her home had a vet visit for a routine checkup at Dr. Welch’s Veterinary Hospital on June 3 when tragedy struck. Weltner recalls what happened, “I didn’t realize I had failed to secure the door on my carrier. The carrier came open in the parking lot and he fell out. It scared him and he took off across the street into the neighborhood. I chased him until he vanished and I walked the streets and called ‘til dark.”

Weltner felt even more fear for her very sweet and friendly Buddy because they live in the country with her dogs, other cats, horses, donkeys, and cattle. “Buddy grew up in the country and since he was little he has been such a tag along with the dogs and me everywhere in every mode of transport other than vehicles which he hates so he got the name Little Buddy nickname early on and it stuck. So this made me worry even more because he had never been to a town and knew nothing about traffic and city life. I didn’t know if he could survive at his age. I couldn’t get over putting him in that situation. It broke my heart,” said Weltner who took action the very next morning.

“I immediately went to have posters made at the UPS store, put them in every mailbox within about a five-block radius, and taped them on poles at intersections and local businesses. I posted on Facebook, at the Gardenia E Janssen Animal Shelter, the local radio station, and put an ad in the Fayette County Record.”

Weltner also didn’t care about the lengths she had to take to find him, “I drove, looked, and talked to anyone and everyone I saw in that area. It seemed like everyone knew me and knew about Buddy. I was the lady in the white truck creeping up and down the streets mornings and evenings. Needless to say, I also had many pleasant conversations with our local police department but they were always very nice and understanding. I don’t fault people for being suspicious, I would also be. The police department all had my posters as well as Animal Control.”

After endless searches, countless conversations, and weeklong ads in the Fayette County Record a miracle happened on September 11, Buddy was found!

“He was about three blocks from Dr. Welch’s Veterinary Hospital on Guadalupe Street,” said Weltner. “I am not sure if he was there the whole time because I drove the streets within a five to six-block area almost daily, sometimes morning and evening calling him and hoping to spot him. And I had looked on that street and that particular house it seems like a million times because there is a very sweet woman on that street who feeds local strays and she befriended me and helped keep an eye out when I was not there. We knew if he was close he would eventually start coming out to look for food and if nobody had taken him in, her area was most likely where he would end up unless he decided to just keep moving.”

Weltner will forever remember the details of that grateful day she found him, “The people who lived in the house where he was hiding had only been seeing him for about a week or two and the man remembered my poster that he said he saw every day when he went to work. They called Dr. Welch’s Veterinary Hospital from the poster and sent a picture which Dr. Welch sent to me with the address but knowing it would take some time for me to get there he grabbed a carrier and one of his technicians drove to the house. Unfortunately, nobody could touch him and he hid. They all left and when I pulled up in the driveway I stepped out of my truck and called him and he popped right out from under the house and came right to me just talking up a storm! I sat in the driveway with him and talked to the homeowner for a bit and he never moved. I just picked him up and got in my truck with him, I was afraid to try another carrier! He stood on the carrier looking out the window the whole way home.”

Now after Buddy’s adventure, Weltner knows it will take some time for him to readjust to home life and get back to his healthy self,” He was very thin but considering his age and knowing he is not a fighter, he looked surprisingly good. After seeing all the tomcats in those streets I had been having nightmares about him being all torn up and running from place to place. He was also very skittish at first and never left my side. He followed my every step but he is finally starting to act like his old self and hang out with his old gang. He goes out during the day and naps but I make him stay inside at night. He is eating well but is still pretty thin. We are working on it. He is finally purring again and seems very happy to be home.”

When asked why Weltner never gave up hope she said it was from the outpour of love and support she received from the community, “So many people were so supportive! I got calls every week from the newspaper ad, people seeing the posters and Facebook messages. I also even got calls from people who were at the clinic the day I lost him and they were checking in to see how things were going.”

“It was just crazy how much absolute concern and kindness was poured out to me and Buddy. The people who remembered my posts and took the time to call when they thought they might have seen him. I mean I still have people calling just to let me know how happy they were I had him home! Some had seen the post in the paper and others had read my Facebook post, which has had almost 600 replies, and they are still commenting! It does a heart good these days to experience so many random acts of kindness from so many people. I will forever be grateful to all involved for choosing to be involved. Most don’t know me or Buddy but still took the time and effort to extend a helping hand and a kind word when it was sorely needed. I hope to always be paying that kindness forward!”

This is an adventure both Buddy and Weltner will not soon forget and it truly is a testament to the power of perseverance and the kindness of others.