Sparky’s journey: Five years later, a cat returns home

Kelly Harrison knew one cat at the Levy County Animal Services Shelter didn’t belong.

The grey-and-white cat looked to be in good health and in good spirits — not a typical shelter cat, the assistant clinical professor at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine said.

“He was kind of an oddball,” she said.

After taking a few seconds to pet him, Harrison decided to scan him for a microchip, a tiny circuit embedded under the skin that could carry information about where the cat was from.

The chip was there. And within 24 hours, the cat — identified as 11-year-old Sparky from Tampa — was reunited with his family.

“I was excited that there was an owner potentially attached to this,” Harrison said.

Sparky was 5 years old when he disappeared from Tampa firefighter John Bogush’s home. The family didn’t restrict Sparky to just the inside of the house and assumed something had attacked him in the nearby woods.

“We assumed he had probably fallen prey to local wildlife,” Bogush said, adding that the woods are known for their large bobcat population. “Our other neighbors had dealt with that before.”

Bogush’s family searched for Sparky and mourned his disappearance for a few weeks, but they ultimately had to move on. Bogush’s daughter, Sophia, was the most upset, he said. She was 3 years old when they brought Sparky home as a kitten. When Bogush answered Harrison’s call, just as she was leaving a voicemail on the microchip’s third and final associated telephone number, it had been more than five years since Sparky had disappeared. But he knew it was his cat.

Immediately after the call from Harrison, Bogush called his wife, Jennifer.

“Are you sitting down?” he asked her. “You’re not going to believe this.”

The next day, the Bogush family drove to the animal shelter to pick up Sparky.

When he came home, Sparky, now 11, quickly returned to his usual lounging and sleeping habits. He also remembered where to find his water bowl, Bogush said.

The most noticeable difference, he said, is the cat’s newfound aversion to going outside.

Bogush said this reunion would have never been possible without the technology of microchips, something he thinks is necessary and should be mandatory for pet ownership.

“In the case of Sparky,” he said, “It took almost six years, but he was eventually returned to us, and we’re all really excited about that.”

He said he feels fortunate that Sparky is home where he belongs.

“Everyone is getting along great,” Bogush said. “He’s acclimating to home like he was only gone a day or two.”