As Kurtis Jahnke sat on his patio last week, a black and gray tabby rubbed against his leg.
Jahnke was astonished. "Rigby?"
His smartphone's flashlight revealed it was indeed his 1½-year-old cat Rigby, who went missing from his east Lincoln home eight months earlier.Â
Rigby looked "a little slim but totally healthy," Jahnke said this week.
"When I opened the door, he just ran in there and started sniffing the same spots as before," Jahnke said.
An indoor cat, Rigby often resisted wearing a collar, Jahnke said.Â
When Jahnke stepped out of his house Jan. 27, Rigby followed.
Other times when Rigby had gotten out of the house, he usually hid under Jahnke's car and came back inside after 20 to 30 minutes.
People are also reading…
On Jan. 27, that didn't happen.
"I waited out all night," Jahnke said.
He put out some of Rigby's food and some litter from his litter box in hopes the cat would find his way back. But no luck.
Jahnke called his veterinarian, the Capital Humane Society and the company that had installed the cat's microchip.
The microchip company said they couldn't locate the cat — the chip is for registration, not tracking — but sent out a missing pet alert to area animal shelters and vet clinics.
Jahnke "kept a little sliver of hope," but as time went on, he figured his friendly cat was taken in by someone else.
When Rigby returned, Jahnke took him to the veterinarian, where a microchip scan confirmed his identity.Â
Rigby had no mites or fleas and his vaccinations were updated.
The veterinarian said it appeared that someone had fed and taken care of the cat. It may have been neighbors, Jahnke said.Â
"I'm definitely interested in finding out who might have taken care of him," he said. "I'd like to thank them."
As for now, he's just happy Rigby came home.
"I was so excited to see him," Jahnke said. "I couldn't believe he came back."