Here's the story of the feline's long journey back

Heartwarming news out of Saratoga County on Friday. Kane, the orange cat that had been missing since January from his Saratoga home, has been reunited with his family. 

Kane's mom, Jamie DiGiovanni, confirmed to the Times Union that the cat had been found Thursday night:

We are ecstatic," DiGiovanni said on Friday morning. "He is a very street-smart cat. He is a survivor, but I did start to have a little doubt, which is inevitable, with each passing day. The likelihood of finding him did dwindle, but I would never stop myself or anybody from hoping to find him.

Kane was well known in his Saratoga neighborhood. He would often hang out down the road at the Spring Street Deli after employees began feeding him. Eventually, the deli's owner told DiGiovanni that he no longer wanted Kane in his shop, but the cat kept showing up. One night in January, Kane didn't come home. 

According to CBS 6, DiGiovanni called the deli to ask if they had seen him, to which Anthony Gargano, the deli's owner said 'no'. However, it turns out, Gargano had driven Kane nearly 8 miles away to the Saratoga County Animal. The shelter was closed for the evening and surveillance video showed that Gargano abandoned the cat outside the building. That's the last time he was seen.  Search parties were organized in the days and weeks following his disappearance, but turned up nothing. 

Fast forward to April 25. A couple in the Mann Road area of Ballston Spa had an orange cat show up at their house. They thought it might be Kane, so they began feeding him and coaxing him into the house. It took a couple days of treats, but Kane came in. The couple called and sent photos to DiGiovanni, she rushed to the home and quickly identified the orange feline as Kane. In a post on Facebook post Friday morning, DiGiovanni shared the news:

When I first picked him up he started to purr so loudly. I went to see if it was in fact Kane and sure enough it was. I was so over joyed I completely forgot to let everyone know. He slept with my son all night.

DiGionvanni says Kane appears to be in good health, but she will be taking him to get a check up.

Welcome home Kane!