LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — It's a story that spread across social media and helped reunite a city council crashing cat with her family.
Although the cat herself played no small part in her own rescue, making herself very much known during Tuesday's meeting in Liberty Lake.
During the public comment period of the meeting, which mostly revolved around a contentious proposed change to the library, the cat also voiced her opinions from the best seat in the house.
“So, our cat in the ceiling has made…ope there he goes," Mayor Cris Kaminskas said during the streamed meeting.
The surprised audience member hung out on the overhang portion of the ceiling in council chambers, says city administrator Mark McAvoy.
“Just kind of sat there and oversaw the rest of the meeting and was very vocal the entire time," he said.
The cat came in from the cold; city staff are still trying to determine where the entrance point was, but some recalled hearing noise in the ceiling before Tuesday's meeting.
McAvoy says it was a bit of comic relief in an otherwise tense meeting.
“We’ll thank the cat for a little bit of joviality here today," the mayor joked.
The kitty was removed during a break in the business. Then the job of finding out where she came from began.
“I have never seen a cat or any other animal at a city council meeting," said Heidi Workman, the city's human resources manager.
Workman, a self-professed animal lover who has tattoos for some of her pets, including Pomeranian Rocket, got to work on social media.
“It’s what I do. I search the sites for lost pets and look for the pets and try to reunite them," she said. "It’s just part of who I am.”
City staff also had their own agenda when it came to the council crashing kitty.
“There was more than talk," McAvoy said. "There was a plan in place and fees paid and those kind of things. The cat was on its way to becoming a city hall cat.”
“I adopted the cat," Workman added.
The cat was taken to SCRAPS in Spokane right after her capture at the meeting. Workman says Facebook posts and a KREM 2 story about the incident were shared on a lost pets page, which helped locate the cat's owner.
“I was able to contact the owner who lives in Montana," she said.
Heidi learned he'd been in town to drop off the cat at the nearby Trout Lodge while visiting, but lost his pet when he slipped.
“He’d had her for ten years so he’s very excited to have Frodo back," Workman smiled.
You could say it was an unexpected journey for this feline.
“Yep, Frodo. He’s very excited to have her back.”
Workman says the cat actually became a pet after she was taken in as a stray by her owner, so she's not unaccustomed to "roughing it."
“He’d told us he was afraid he’d never see her again," McAvoy added.
Frodo may have left the ceiling, but her story is unlikely to leave this city's halls any time soon.
Another bit of good news - Frodo was microchipped at SCRAPS, so if she does manage to escape again, she'll be easier to track down.
“It was the purrfect ending," Workman laughed.
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