HONOLULU (KHON2) — A Waikiki woman who died one month ago had one final wish, for someone to take care of her cat, Rusty.
Over the weekend, KHON2 received multiple calls saying Rusty was alone inside an apartment near Diamond Head.
“She went to Kaiser hospital, she knocked on my door, and asked me to take care of her cat,” said her neighbor Djuro Joksimovic.
He said she figured she would be home in a few days, but she never returned home.
A case manager at the hospital called him and told him she had died and the hospital was sending someone to check on the cat.
“I’m giving him milk, tuna and dry food the last two weeks then abruptly two weeks ago, the property manager said the bank got the apartment and they have to lock everything and board the windows and the doors and my access to the cat,” Joksimovic said.
Rusty was now locked inside the apartment alone.
Joksimovic said he tried feeding the cat through cracks in the door, but someone called the police. The last time he saw Rusty was April 4, and he called the Hawaiian Humane Society.
He said he cares so much because she left him with a dying wish to find someone to take care of the cat and to help take care of it.
“I can’t leave a cat there to die starving,” he said.
On April 7, police and the humane society asked the property manager for access to the apartment to check on Rusty.
After a few minutes of searching, the authorities were able to see the cat, alive inside the unit.
“Rusty is in the apartment, he is okay, he’s a little skittish, a little shy, he did not want to come up to us,” explained Sgt. Vernon Ling from the Hawaiian Humane Society. He said the cat was going to his hiding spots and after nearly an hour of trying to get the cat, they left a cat trap with food and water.
“Once [he goes into the trap], we’ll pick him up, bring him to our shelter here for proper care and examination and he’ll be assessed to be made available for adoption,” Ling continued.
Although not very common, HHS said they’ve handled these types of calls before.
“This is a reminder to plan ahead as much as you can plan with community, loved ones, neighbors. Having a plan after or in the event something happens so it doesn’t come down to an emergency call,” explained Brandy Shimabukuro from the Hawaiian Humane Society.
Both recommend telling the hospital there is a live pet at home as well, and if something happens they can contact HHS.
But always try and have a plan with a landlord or someone with access to your house.
“We appreciate people in the public like Joksimovic working so hard to do what’s right for this animal, and not giving up,” Shimabukuro and Ling said.
HPD and HHS will go back to see if Rusty is in the trap and take him to the shelter on Tuesday morning.