An 11-year-old cat was fortunate this week to not only survive a horrible car wreck, but also two days in the Florida Everglades.
The crash happened on Monday at about 3 p.m. while Sam's owner, Nikki Saltzburg, and her family were moving from Los Angeles to Miami. They were driving on I-75 when another vehicle collided with theirs, causing Saltzburg to lose control of her minivan.
Sam's cat crate, which had been placed in the front seat of the minivan, was thrown through the window and ended up broken in the nearby grass. Undoubtedly scared and confused, Sam darted into a bush and disappeared.
Saltzburg and her family were in no condition to look for the cat and needed to get to a hospital. But having recently lost her dog Hershey to a sudden illness in March, Saltzburg was anguished by the thought of losing another pet.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for word to get out about Sam's disappearance. Camille Loge, an animal advocate from Naples, posted Sam's plight on her Facebook page, "Camille's Rescue Page," posted an ad on Craig's List, and even formed a search party.
On Wednesday, Kathleen Sullivan, who works at Brigid's Crossing Foundation cat sanctuary in Naples, and her husband Cristopher drove out in search of Sam. Miraculously, they found Sam near the site of the crash at mile marker 97.
Loge is continuing to care for Sam until the Saltzburgs get settled in their new home.