Qld: Bengal cat reunited with owner

AAP General News (Australia)
03-21-2007
Qld: Bengal cat reunited with owner

BRISBANE, March 20 AAP - A valuable American-bred Bengal cat has been reunited with
his owner in Brisbane.

Nicknamed Bruce, after Bruce Springsteen who wrote the hit son Born in the USA, the
Bengal had been claimed by his owner Nigel Smythe who was given the cat by his employer,
the RSPCA said today.

A breeding pedigree male Bengal cat is estimated to be worth around $3,000.

But Bruce, whose real name is Tomahawk, has been neutered.

He was caught in a cat trap by a resident in the southside suburb of Carindale last
week and was taken to the RSPCA's Fairfield shelter, suffering cat flu.

A microchip embedded under its skin showed the cat was registered in the city of Beaufort
in South Carolina, although the `chip had been implanted at a vet clinic in Idaho.

Mr Nigel Smythe, said he would be glad to get Tomahawk back to his Brisbane home.

He said the cat had run off after a recent disruptive house move.

"I just thought he had gone for a wander but he had gone for a lot longer than I thought,
so I started freaking out about it," Mr Smythe told Ten News.

Mr Smythe now plans to get a cat enclosure in his yard.

RSPCA veterinary nurse Shannon Whiting said she tracked down Mr Smythe with the help
of the internet and the microchip company which told her Tomahawk had had three previous
owners.

She also nursed Tomahawk back to health from his bout of cat flu.

AAP rad/cjh/cdh

KEYWORD: CAT

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