Snowbell had a severe fracture in her leg and skin cancer on her nose.
SPCA Whanganui centre manager Francie Flis said they didn’t know what had caused Snowbell’s injuries, “but it was clear some form of trauma had happened”.
She was given emergency surgery to amputate her right back leg.
Meanwhile, the SPCA continued its search for her family.
The Palmerston North SPCA hand-delivered a letter to the family’s home and emailed them.
The family called the next day while Snowbell was in surgery.
The Hales lived in Gonville until moving to Palmerston North in 2018.
Sisters Analese (left) and Tahlia Hales picked up Snowbell a week after her surgery. Photo / SPCA Whanganui Analese Hales, sister Tahlia and mother Sandra had owned Snowbell for a few years when a loud noise spooked her outside and she ran off.
Analese said they searched for her but never saw her again.
When they received the SPCA’s letters that she had been found, they were shocked.
“I had no words. It was just incredible.”
A week after Snowbell’s surgery, Analese and Tahlia travelled to Whanganui to take her home.
“She’s doing amazing.”
She was scared of the house at first, but had since settled in happily and was getting used to life with three legs.
“She’s not hiding any more, she’s doing great.”
The family were “very grateful” for the person who rescued Snowbell and the vets and SPCA staff who helped to reunite them, Flis said.
“Stories like Snowbell’s show how the community working together can have such a meaningful impact on not only the cats’ lives but the owners’.
“It also shows how beneficial microchipping your companion animals can be.”
It also highlighted the importance of keeping contact details up to date on the companion animal registrar.
The Whanganui SPCA microchipped 56 cats during its free microchipping campaign in March.
“Without a microchip, we wouldn’t have been reunited with her,” Analese said.
Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
