Cat and owner reunited thanks to microchip

Somehow, it seems much more logical that a dog might wander off.

Outside, enjoying the fresh air. Sniff, sniff.

Is that a squirrel?

Gone!

A cat, however, is much more coy. A squirrel you say? I’ll just sit here in the sun and check it out for a while, then decide what to do.

Unfortunately, such was not the luck for Alex Bismore, whose cat, Ginger, went missing for nearly five years.

Bismore was a senior at Everett High School when he went looking for a cat just before his 18th birthday.

He spotted a tiny calico kitten in the back corner of an animal shelter. “As soon as I saw the cat, I knew it was the cat I had to have,” Bismore said.

Bismore, who was living with his grandparents, decided to adopt a second cat named Tiger. As the weeks stretched into months, the two cats became like brother and sister, often playing outside together.

One day, Tiger came back inside. Ginger didn’t.

“We assumed she would come back the next day,” Bismore said. “The next day, we didn’t see anything, or the next day or the next.”

The house, in the Lowell neighborhood of Everett, has trees and a creek nearby.

He and his grandparents searched the neighborhood and checked local animal shelters but couldn’t find her. They feared the cat, about 3 months old, had been taken by a wild animal.

Ginger had a tiny microchip implanted in her body with identification information, so the Bismores still hoped to find her.

But four and a half years passed. “We assumed we would never see her again,” Bismore said.

On Feb. 8, there was a message on the house phone. Bismore’s grandmother, Gladys Bismore, returned the call and was asked: Did you have a cat?

“Well, not recently,” she responded.

It turned out the call was from a microchip monitoring company. When the chip was read with a special scanner, it provided a number that could be matched in a database with the Bismores’ name, address and phone number.

As best as can be pieced together, Ginger had somehow made her way to a home about three miles away, near the Colby Campus of Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. An elderly man living there was caring for several cats.

It’s unclear why anyone checked Ginger for a microchip.

There was one other thing that convinced the Bismores that the cat in question wasn’t just any calico but the real missing Ginger.

Ginger always had a little kink in her tail, “a quirky thing that’s pretty unmistakable,” Alex Bismore said. This cat did, too.

But they wondered if her loving personality had turned more feral during the years she went missing.

It didn’t take long to find out. As soon as she was brought home and bounced out of the carrier, she looked around her surroundings and then moved into a big cat stretch, back legs out, back rounded.

When Alex Bismore walked down the hall to his room, Ginger walked with him and stood expectantly at his door. When he momentarily left the room, there she was at his side.

“It was cute as can be,” Gladys Bismore said. “She’s been attached to him. She definitely remembered him.”

Alex Bismore, who is now 22, said that life is resuming with Ginger pretty much as before, with one exception.

“As far as I’m concerned, she’ll be an indoor cat,” he said. “I don’t want to lose her again.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order halting work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.