Toronto woman offering $10,000 reward for safe return of missing cat

The owner of a unique cat that went missing from Toronto’s Casa Loma area a week ago is offering $10,000 for its safe return.

Mika, a nine-month-old male Savannah cat, was last seen on March 5 around 11:30 a.m. near Spadina and Davenport roads.

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The beloved feline belongs to Amelia Maltepe, a local real estate investor. She told CP24.com that she got Mika about three months ago.

“We’ve been looking day and night everywhere. … He’s smart, but I think he’s very, very scared,” she said on Tuesday morning.

According to Maltepe, Mika escaped after a worker at her under-renovation home left a door slightly ajar. She said that the cat managed to push open the door and ran away.

In the aftermath of Mika's disappearance, Maltepe took to the streets — putting up posters in her Midtown neighbourhood — and social media to find her lost pet.

A poster offering a $10,000 reward for Mika, the Savannah cat. (Amelia Maltepe photo)

Mika, however, may be hard to spot as his brown spotted coat blends well with the trees and foliage in the area. She also said that many of the properties in her area are not publicly accessible, which has made the search all the more difficult.

Maltepe is urging anyone who sees Mika to not chase him as he can be skittish and will likely run away. Instead, she is asking anyone who spots him to call her at 647-640-9527, and to follow him at a distance until she can retrieve him.

While Maltepe hasn't received any reports of sightings yet, she said that she is hopeful that Mika will be found.

“People have been very helpful in the neighbourhood,” she said, adding that if the cat isn’t found by Sunday, she plans to up the reward.

“I don’t care about the money. I just want Mika back!”

Savannahs are a unique breed of hybrid cats created in the 20th century by breeding an African serval with a domestic cat. They tend to be taller, larger, and leaner than house cats and have a distinct brown spotted coat and large pointy ears. The felines are also typically very loyal to their owner and can be somewhat wary of others. Savannahs are advertised for sale online anywhere from $1,000 to about $20,000.