A cat's curious adventure to Valdosta

Torrential rains hit Atlanta on June 5, the last day Knight saw Jasper. She typically let him outdoors to roam the neighborhood during the day. She knew he was adventurous, much like a dog trapped in a cat suit. Heck, Jasper had been known to follow her to neighborhood bars and wait for her by the door.

But she didn't realize that Jasper roamed far, far beyond her neighborhood, a fact she learned while going door-to-door asking strangers if they had seen her creamy kitty with slightly crossed-eyes.

She was ashamed to tell them her cat didn't wear a collar. The crafty kitty had wrangled loose from one-too-many, so she had given up trying to keep them on. What kept her sane during his time away was knowing her cat was micro-chipped, that the shelter she adopted him from had implanted a rice-grain-sized ID chip under his skin for events just like this.

"It was my one saving grace, thinking if someone would just take him to a vet or a shelter, then they could scan him and find me," said Knight, a 28-year-old writing teacher at KIPP South Fulton Academy.

But days passed, and nothing happened.

"I've experienced severe romantic heartbreak, but this pales in comparison," she said. "I knew I loved him and how much he meant to me, but I didn't realize how much I relied on him until he wasn't here."

As she grieved, (and yes, Knight epically grieved), neighbors rallied around her. One rebuilt her mailbox. Another saved money to buy her a pricey bottle of wine. They sat on her porch with her and shared their pet stories. They helped her distribute fliers and calmed her while she cried.

Knight was in New York on July 5 with her sister when she got the call from an animal clinic in Valdosta. Jasper had been brought in by a Good Samaritan, Kyle Porter, who had fed the kitty since late June when Jasper showed up on his porch and refused to leave. Porter, a U.S. Air Force captain who was busy planning his move from Georgia to Arizona, had spent a week trying to find the cat's owner in Valdosta. He searched online for missing cat ads. He drove through neighborhoods looking for signs. He even posted "found" notices on Craigslist.org. Taking Jasper to a vet to be scanned was a last resort the day before movers arrived at his home.

Porter said he and his wife have pets and know what it's like to lose one. Their cats, like Jasper, are micro-chipped.

"I was even a little worried that even if it was micro-chipped that maybe it wouldn’t be tied to the right phone number or maybe somebody had abandoned the cat," Porter said.

Finding Knight, who flew home and drove to south Georgia to get Jasper, "was a huge relief."

Despite his journey, Knight said she'll still allow Jasper outside sometimes, but only when she's nearby.

"He's proven to me he knows how to handle himself in this world and survive."

That said: "He's lost his outdoor privileges for a little while."