Missing one-eyed ginger cat: Whangārei community rallies to find Ginger

Ginger, pictured with Jo, is now happily back with his family after two months of adventures.

If there's one way to get to know your new community after migrating across the world, it's spending two months trawling the neighbourhood for your missing one-eyed cat.

And although the Iles family had hoped for a smoother start to their Whangārei life, the community effort in finding Ginger back as cemented the family's place locally with a heart-warming ending.

The family, including Jo, Steve and their two teenagers, arrived in New Zealand late November and spent two weeks isolating while their three cats and dog quarantined in a separate facility. With fond memories of their year spent living in Whangārei in 2016/17 due to Steve's job at Whangārei Hospital, they happily accepted the position he was offered as a respiratory doctor.

"We really loved it here and with the kids [aged 13 and 15] only spending three weeks in school over the last year [due to Covid], we had to look into the children's futures really," explained Jo.

Unable to purchase a house until they have residency and with rentals in short supply, the family were invited to set up camp on a friend's Te Rongo Rd property at Whangārei Heads in the interim. However, on the second night, their nine-year-old beloved rescue moggie went walkabout.

"We had moved Ginger into the bathroom cabin because we had set up a generator the day before and he seemed a little bit stressed from the noise," explained Jo.

"But the door wasn't locked properly and it was a really windy night so it blew open and he took the opportunity to leg it."

Ginger has endured a tough life after being attacked by a dog as a kitten and losing an eye.

The following morning the family began searching nearby bush and contacting neighbours. Jo also joined every local social media page and began posting Ginger's photo, as well as distributing flyers in letterboxes and registering him with the NZ Lost Pet Register.

Jo's regular posts were followed by many well-wishers along with possible sightings. Locals also pitched in to help search and with neighbours printing flyers. Ginger's distinctive features were his single eye and loud meow.

"Back where we lived [in Cornwall] ginger cats are quite rare but here there seems to be a lot of them," said Jo.

However, they followed up each potential sighting, their journeys taking them to far-flung locations of the Whangārei Heads.

"It was mostly during the evenings that we'd go searching as they sleep during the day, especially in the heat," she explained, adding that usually after a few weeks, cats go into survival mode.

"They tend to lose some of their social behaviour and act more feral focusing on food and survival."

Jo said there had been times when they asked themselves: "What on earth have we done" but everything was now falling into place for the family.

Residents helped by leaving out traps, which only seemed to trap their own pet cats. The situation was not helped by the fact the Iles' furniture and possessions were still being shipped and Ginger's bedding had to be burnt during quarantine. So, in order to have a familiar scent, they left their daughter's clothing in each of the traps.

Ginger's disappearance was particularly upsetting for the 15-year-old whom Ginger was closest to.

"If she goes away, he disappears for a bit," said Jo, confirming that Ginger had used most of his nine lives, enduring a hard life after losing his eye as a kitten from a dog attack.

"After he had travelled so far and been in quarantine we were really worried. After two months missing, despite so much community help and support, we were starting to lose hope. We'd also had a message that people shoot cats around here. I think it's the not knowing that is difficult so while we were looking for rentals, we weren't really wanting to leave the area."

Then during dinner time last Thursday, Jo received a phone call from a lady who had been following her Facebook posts and recognised the one-eyed ginger cat who had been visiting her mother for five days at Manganese Point Rd – more than 7km away.

"We went straight out to Manganese Point Rd but were a bit sceptical as we'd had our hopes up before and we were not believing that he could have travelled so far. But when our daughter called for him, he came running up just so happy to see her, it was very emotional and we couldn't quite believe it really."

Nine-year-old Ginger has not been walkabout since his two-month adventure.

While he was skinny and hungry, Ginger had been making up for it by tucking into large amounts of food and was happily spending his days and nights sleeping on his favourite family member's bed.

"He has been nicknamed Gulliver by the neighbours," said Jo, reporting that Ginger had quite happily not left the tent since his return. While their camp site had mushroomed to include a cats' tent, their luck was improving with Ginger's return, having secured a rental in the same week.

"Our focus has really been on finding Ginger since we got here," said Jo, adding that, as well as getting to know the neighbours by day, they have become familiar with the nocturnal wildlife.

"We have been up all night with possums shrieking and raiding the kitchen and wild bush cows walking through," she laughed. "There were points where we were thinking what on earth have we done?

"But the neighbours have just been so lovely. We'd like to thank the wonderful community for their support and encouragement in finding Ginger and for anyone missing a pet, don't give up!"