He was miraculously reunited with his family ❤️
Last month, Dawn Felicani, a Westford, Massachusetts, resident, was walking near a partially frozen lake when she spotted a shocking sight: a cat stranded 40 feet from shore on a tiny piece of ice. Panicked, she could hear the ice cracking beneath the cat and immediately called animal control for help.
“She was sobbing and I was trying to keep her calm,” animal control officer Kirsten Hirschler recalled.
As Felicani and Hirschler spoke, the situation took a terrifying turn — the cat fell into the freezing water. Just when it seemed hope was lost, two men, Nate Puza and Kristopher Seymour, working on a nearby house, noticed the commotion. Without hesitation, they grabbed a rowboat and a shovel to paddle their way to the cat.
Puza reached the animal in the nick of time, pulling him out of the water and wrapping him in warm blankets. “He quickly accessed the cat and plucked him from the water moments before he surely would have succumbed to the frigid cold,” Westford Animal Control shared on Facebook.
When Hirschler arrived, the cat was safe but in critical condition. “He wasn’t moving very much. He had shallow breathing and was cold to the touch,” Hirschler said. The situation at the vet was dire, as his temperature was too low to register on the thermometer.
Thanks to aggressive treatment, the cat made a remarkable recovery. Hirschler posted his photo online, and soon, a couple came forward to claim him. Their cat, Tiki, had snuck out the night before and likely ended up on the ice while fleeing a predator.
The Ardens revealed an astonishing detail: Tiki is blind and 20 years old. His survival was nothing short of miraculous. Back home, Tiki is his usual self, showing no signs of the life-threatening ordeal.
“We can’t believe he made it through no worse for wear,” said Jon and Melaney Arden, his grateful parents. Tiki’s incredible story is a testament to resilience, bravery, and the kindness of strangers.