Friendly feline shows up at WJHG studio in Panama City Beach all the way from Panama City

PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -

April 11 is national pet day. One Panama City family is thankful they still have their pet to celebrate the day. They have an anchor with a sweet tooth to thank for it.

On the night of Good Friday, a friendly feline showed up outside the doors of our Newschannel 7 sales office.

That night news anchor Barry Lowin recorded a phone video describing the scene. “So I’m at the station and I went to one of the back doors and this little guy was wandering around. It’s got the little tag-- so it’s been neutered.”

It was a series of purrfectly timed events.

Everyone on the night crew was determined to help the black and white cat we had affectionately named Oreo find his humans. Or as we all know cats have servants, not owners.

“I think you can definitely tell when there’s a cat that has a loving family and it’s not just a stray on the street,” said Ryan Alm, WJHG 6 and 10 pm producer. “I mean, he was definitely a loved cat. We knew he had a home and had someone out there that was looking for him.”

So, we jumped into action.

“Chris Smith went and got him some tuna fish from the store down the street,” said Lowin.

Others took to social media.

“And we started looking for who he could belong to,” said Lowin.

We sent out a Facebook post asking if anyone had lost their fur baby and Oreo even made his television debut.

After the news, we clawed our way through Facebook again.

“Since Neysa has such a huge connection with everyone in the community, she found a post that said he was missing,” Said Lowin.

After sending messages on how to get in touch with us we crossed our fingers and prayed.

“I was hearing from people I never met messaging me saying yea I think they have your cat,” said Oreo’s owner Marilyn Rogers.

Bright and early Saturday morning Neysa got a call from an anxious Marylin Rogers.

“I tried to temper my reaction because I didn’t wanna be disappointed, but um, I thought well it does look like Oreo,” said Rogers.

We met up outside the front door of the WJHG building.

“I was so worried how was I gonna tell for sure,?” said Rogers. “But it was no problem once I saw him.”

She calls it a Good Friday miracle.

“You always worry somebody hit him with a car,” said Rogers. “I did think about someone taking him because he is so friendly.”

Then we found out just how far he was from home.

We’re not sure if he used up any of his nine lives crossing over the Hathaway Bridge.

“We live in the Bayview Heights, close to Pretty Bayou,” said Rogers.

It’s a mystery how he got from his home in Panama City to our studio in Panama City Beach.

“Somebody had to drive him over here,” said Rogers. “So, whether somebody picked him up and then decided they couldn’t take care of him. I don’t know. I’m just thankful they left him here.”

Oh, and something else amazing we found out his name was actually Oreo.

Rogers stopped by the station with Oreo to thank the crew where she got the full story..

“The sales team often has snacks and treats. It was Friday night and we heard they had cookies back here,” said Lowin.

“So before the 10 o’clock show, I came back here to secretly get a cookie. Oreo was right outside the door. He was just kind of pacing back and forth. So I opened the door to get him and the door automatically locks. I got locked out. So I walked to the front of the building knocking on windows, and then Ryan let me in. All of us are huge animal lovers.”

That’s what started it all off. We couldn’t help but notice Oreo was sporting a new bright orange necklace complete with his name and phone number. So if he ever gets that wandering spirit again, maybe finding him might be easier.

But it might be tougher for him to escape now. “I’m keeping him closer than normal,” said Rogers. “He’s not crazy about it.”

Rogers credits the lost pet’s social media platforms for helping Oreo find his way home. She posted his picture on several of them.

Locally on Facebook, there are Lost Pets of Bay County and Lost, Found, and Helping Pets of Bay County, Florida, to name a few.

Although cats don’t normally like to wear collars Rogers recommends putting one on your feline.

Chris Smith even has one with a tracker on his cat just to be on the safe side.