Husband was devastated after late wife's 17-yr-old cat went missing. Neighbor ditched anniversary to pull off daring rescue in heels

In neighbourhoods where people look out for one another, worry travels fast. This happens especially when an elderly man gets to know that his late wife's cat, whom he’s loved for nearly two decades, is suddenly gone. This unfortunate incident happened when 17-year-old Ariel, a senior Siamese cat, found the front door open and decided to sneak out, as per Julie Nashawaty (@julienashawaty on TikTok), the old man's neighbor and a rescue volunteer. 

The elderly owner, who had rescued Ariel with his late wife years ago, woke up to see that the front door didn’t latch properly last night and realised Ariel, his cat, was missing. The first call he made was to Julie, a full-time professional cat sitter known in her neighbourhood for always showing up when an animal needs help. “I work with families all over the neighborhood, but I’m also the person people text when they find a stray, an abandoned pet, or a cat that needs immediate help,” she told Newsweek. 

Over the years, she has helped families with pets, carried injured strays to emergency care and shared it all through TikTok videos. But on that particular night, she wasn’t thinking of her usual community of cats, she was thinking about Ariel. “She’s a 17-year-old Siamese who had never been outside since he and his late wife rescued her off the street almost two decades ago,” she said. When she visited the elderly man earlier that day, the situation was clear. “When I got there, he was devastated and blaming himself,” she said. “He kept saying his wife would be heartbroken looking down on him.”

As the evening started to take over, Ariel was still missing. Nashawaty and her husband were supposed to be celebrating their second wedding anniversary, but dinner felt like a formality neither could focus on. “Honestly, I couldn’t think about anything else,” she said and her husband felt the same. So instead of heading home after their meal, they continued searching in the neighbourhood. Experience told her that cats don’t really go far. With that in mind, they began scanning yards, fences and dark corners with phone lights. “I finally spotted her behind a tall fence on someone else’s property. She was so small and still,” Nashawaty recalled. In heels with a step ladder, slow moves and a lot of care, she managed to lift Ariel to safety.

The owner reacted quickly when she called him to give the good news while he was teaching a night class. Nashawaty remembers his whole class “erupted in cheers”. Ariel and his owner’s reunion was emotional. “He couldn’t stop thanking us,” she said. Weeks later, he invited them over for cookies and told them all the things about the cats he and his wife had rescued together.

According to the American Pet Products Association’s 2025 report, cat ownership has risen by 23 percent in 2024, with 49 million U.S. households now sharing their lives with a cat.

When Nashawaty later posted the rescue on TikTok, comments poured in. “‘The whole class cheered’ took me out,” @eliwhite099 wrote. @blackdicedragon added, “I just know his wife's spirit kept her safe while she was out there. 😭 Such a wonderful rescue.” @seadragonkin called Nashawaty “some kind of patron saint of cats.”

You can follow Julie Nashawaty (@julienashawaty) on TikTok for more cat-related content.

More on Amplify 

Cat walks 10-year-old to school every day—then ends up becoming his school’s mascot

Woman panicked when her cat ran into a neighbor’s home—until she saw their note: 'I’m not mad, unless…'