Family's cat returns from Shore leave

THANKS TO a cat that's apparently part homing pigeon, one Superstorm Sandy story has a happy ending.

In early November, 8-year-old Porsche was evacuated by rubber boat from Chadwick Island, Toms River, along with his owners, Uranie Roberts and her daughter Carol Baumann.

They'd stayed through the storm, but after losing power, gas and water, went to stay with in-laws in Point Pleasant, about eight miles away.

After just a few days, Porsche escaped.

The animal authorities were alerted and the family followed up every so-called sighting for nearly six months. The cat's tags were attached to a breakaway collar that could have easily been lost, Roberts, 86, said yesterday.

"I never gave up hope," she said, although she feared that "maybe he crossed the rainbow bridge, as they say from that poem about animals that pass on."

On April 29, Roberts and Baumann returned home without ever finding Porsche. Last Wednesday, they heard a noise on the deck and opened the blinds.

"I saw the green eyes and I said, 'My God in heaven, it's Porsche!' " Baumann, 62, told NBC 10.

The cat had crossed a bridge all right - probably the one over the Point Pleasant Canal, about a half-mile from where they were staying. That left more than seven miles to go, largely south through Jersey Shore towns hit hard by Sandy.

"I am astounded, I'll tell you, that he made it," Roberts said.