Thrift Store Employees Find Pet Cat Hiding Inside Recliner Donated By Colorado Family

A Colorado family who donated a recliner to a thrift store had no idea they had given away their pet cat with it. The feline, found huddled up inside the chair by the store employees, was reunited with its humans over the weekend.

When the staff at Arc Thrift Store on 255 S. Hooker Street in Denver found the cat, named Montequlla, hiding inside a piece of furniture that had been donated to the store, they enlisted the help of Denver Animal Protection to locate the feline's family, The Denver Channel reported.

"Sure enough, there's a recliner out front, and there's a little orange tabby stuck inside," DAP officer Jenna Humphreys told The Denver Channel. "Very friendly, couldn't get out. They said that they had noticed the meowing shortly after somebody had dropped it off."

Humphreys lured the cat out of the chair and the microchip implanted into the feline led authorities to its owner. Meanwhile, Montequlla's family was frantically searching for the cat, unaware that it was inside the recliner chair at the time of donation.

"When Montequlla's family realized that she was missing, they contacted the thrift store who directed them to contact Denver Animal Protection. Officer Humphreys was able to reunite Montequlla with her family," DAP said in a Facebook post.

Humphreys said it's common for pets to hide inside furniture to evade a stressful situation. "Oftentimes, when we have a stressful event like that, we know that animals can seek hiding spots. So this one just happened to pick the recliner that they were going to donate to Arc," she told KUSA-TV. "It's not uncommon for us to be called to help remove animals from those situations, but this was a new one."

"We are so happy for the ending to this story and are thankful to everyone involved in getting this sweet cat home safely," DAP wrote in the Facebook post.

Humphreys told The Denver Channel that the family was relieved to have their cat back at home. "The owners were absolutely thrilled to have their cat back," she told the outlet. "They were so relieved."