Austin cat on the mend after 2 months trapped in vacant home
Editor's note: The above video shows KXAN News' top morning headlines from Monday, April 1, 2024.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- It's a homecoming for the ages as an east Austin couple celebrates the return of their cat, two months after he had gone missing and was presumed dead.
Doug and Monet Bennett said their indoor-outdoor cat, Hans Ellie, spend most days playing outdoors before returning home before sundown every night. But on January 24, there was a thunderstorm that January day, and Hans -- who the Bennetts described as "a big scaredy cat -- never came home.
"We started just looking around and calling his name and walking around the neighborhood," Doug said. "We started asking all of our neighbors -- our street, everyone knows each other. They all know Hans. So they're very familiar with him, and people said they hadn't seen him."
The Bennetts put out flyers and shared postings on Facebook neighborhood pages and other online groups. Doug said he and Monet spotted coyote tracks near their yard, and they feared something had happened.
After several weeks of searching, they assumed the worst.
"We were just devastated. Hans is our first shared pet," Monet said, adding: "He is just the biggest lovebug and it was just devastating to know that he wasn't going to be in our lives anymore."
That all changed on March 27, Doug's birthday. He received a text from a neighbor, who said animal control had responded to an abandoned house down the road and rescued a cat who looked like Hans.
Sprinting down the road, Doug caught up with the animal control officer on scene. Inside the cage was Hans.
"As soon as he opens the cage door, I had this insane rush of emotion and didn't really know what to do," Doug said.
Animal control staff estimated it had been approximately six weeks since anyone had been in the home. When Hans was found, he was totally blind and emaciated, down from his typical 18 pounds to roughly seven or eight pounds.
The Bennetts brought Hans to the Veterinary Emergency Group (VEG) ER at the Arboretum, where he was put on fluids before staff slowly began reintroducing food and water in small doses.
Once stabilized at VEG, he was strong enough to be transferred to Central Texas Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital. There, he received a blood transfusion, and has been improving since.
"Hans is a fighter. He fought so hard to be alive and to get to this point, so we want to fight super hard to make sure that we can bring him home."
Monet Bennett, Hans' owner
"We just got off the phone with a nurse a couple hours ago and she said that he's acting like a cat, he's doing all the cat things," Monet said. "He's still blind as a bat, and we're hoping that he regains some vision, but we're just so excited to be able to take him home again."
Based on his progress, the Bennetts hope to bring Hans home in the next few days. But that journey home couldn't be possible, they said, without a slew of medical professionals -- Dr. Sheahan, Dr. Pearson and Dr. Jemmott at VEG, as well as Dr. Simmonds and Dr. Rae at Central Texas Veterinary Specialty & Emergency Hospital -- and their neighbors, who rallied behind them.
"We're just so grateful," Monet said. "Hans is a fighter. He fought so hard to be alive and to get to this point, so we want to fight super hard to make sure that we can bring him home."
Those interested in supporting Hans' medical journey can donate to his GoFundMe online.