Cat lost in Toronto airport more than 3 weeks ago returned to Winnipeg man

Emaciated and filthy after going missing for weeks in Canada's largest airport, Dewy the cat was finally reunited with his grateful owner in Winnipeg Wednesday evening.

When CBC News spoke to him Wednesday night, Riley McCann said three-year-old Dewy was sitting next to him following his first bath after arriving home.

"He lost basically all his weight in the weeks that he was lost. He has very visible bones right now. And so he was quite cold when he came out of the bath," McCann said.

McCann was moving back to Winnipeg from Montreal with his two cats. He took a flight on Jan. 16, and travelled with his cat Vida in the cabin and paid $105 for his other cat, Dewy, to travel in the cargo area.

During a layover at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the front gate on Dewy's crate fell open and the cat escaped inside Air Canada's baggage warehouse.

Between then and receiving the call around 6 p.m. on Tuesday that Dewy had been found, McCann said he heard little information about the search for his cat. 

"You lose a little bit more hope every single day, you know, that he will eventually get home safe," he said.

Getting the call that the cat had been captured came as a surprise, he said.

"I'm lucky he hadn't gotten hurt in over three weeks that he was missing. I'm lucky that he was able to come out and get captured. 

"There's a lot of people in the same situation who have not been as lucky as myself and Dewy have been here."

McCann picked Dewy up from the Winnipeg airport on Wednesday.

"When I picked him up, you know, he had pooped in his crate because he was afraid, he was covered in dirt. He was like gray and black and just covered in soot and ash and a bunch of junk from the warehouse where he was locked in for the last three weeks," he said.

On Thursday, McCann will take Dewy to a vet for a checkup.

For now, McCann says Dewy is drinking water and eating lots of food, although not very happy about the bath.