Microchip helps reunite elderly cat with owners

Liz McKenry introduces her kids to Ritz, who is now 18.

The takeaway from this story is CHIP YOUR PETS!

In April, an elderly cat in Maryland was reunited with the family who lost him in 2006 when he bolted out the door.

The kitty was found as a stray by a woman who took the cat, whose leg had been injured, to a veterinarian in Annapolis, who scanned the kitty for a chip. His name was Ritz and his chip info was current! The feline had been looking for food by a trailer park six miles from his owners' old apartment.

The cat's owners, Jason and Liz McKenry, received an automated text message from the company behind Ritz's microchip, informing them that their long-lost cat was at a local vet. They thought it was a mistake.

"I was like, 'Well, that's gotta be a mistake.' I mean, I'm thinking they recycled the microchip number," Jason told CBS News. "He's been gone for 16 years. I didn't think this was possible," said Liz.

The couple had searched everywhere for Ritz, who two years old when he went missing, with no luck. "We spent months looking all around, talking to the shelters. Everything we could think of, we tried," Jason said.

Ritz arrived at the vet suffering from a severe leg injury, and the woman who brought him in expected the cat would need to be euthanized. Luckily, the vet's microchip scan found Ritz's chip, which contained contact information for the McKenrys. The family happily agreed to take Ritz back home and help him heal, according to CBS News. "I wish he could talk. I'd love to hear his story," said Jason.

It's now believed that Ritz holds the record for the pet missing the longest before being found with the help of a microchip. "That's a new record as far as I know," said Tom Sharp, president of AKC Reunite — a lost pet recovery service.

If you have a pet dog or cat who is not chipped, please consider having it done NOW. While you might be careful about keeping your pet with you, you never know when circumstances might send your fur buddy out into the world. If you already have your pet chipped, make sure the information is updated if you move or change phone numbers.