After a fire destroyed her home, Christine couldn’t find her cat, but two months later, her dog did!

Firefighters had rescued Christine Marr’s sweet shepherd-lab, Chloe. But they couldn’t find her beloved little cat, Ringer, who had also vanished in the flames . . .

As Christine Marr’s pup, Chloe, lay sleeping at her feet, the five-year- old shepherd-lab mix’s front paws thrashed. “My poor girl. Having a nightmare about the fire ?” the South Haven, Michigan, empty-nester wondered.

At Christine’s voice, Chloe leapt up and began pacing the hotel room. “Oh, Chloe. He’s not here,” Christine sighed.

Chloe had been just eight weeks old when Christine and her husband, John, adopted both the pup and a tiny black kitten with a white ring at the tip of his tail, Ringer.

Chloe looked up sadly as if to say: But where’s Ringer?

Dogs and cats sometimes get along like, well, dogs and cats. But as Chloe and Ringer grew, they became best friends, chasing each other around the house, Ringer a blur taunting 107-pound Chloe, Catch me! And whenever Christine headed off to work, she’d find her “awesome pawsome” curled on the sofa together.

“You two have fun,” Christine smiled one morning on her way to Walmart, where she’s a department manager.

A few hours later, her phone rang .“Your house is on fire !” a local firefighters aid.

A faulty heater had ignited, setting the home ablaze. “We brought your dog to the vet,” one fire fighter reported.

“What about my cat ?” Christine blurted. But while firefighters searched far and wide — even behind the couch, usually Ringer’s safe place— he was nowhere to be found.

Christine wept for Ringer as she rushed to the vet. There, covered in soot and breathing oxygen through a mask, Chloe looked up sadly, as if to say: But where’s Ringer?

In the days that followed, Christine refused to give up. You’ve got to be hiding somewhere, little one! she prayed, hanging “Lost cat” fliers and posting on Facebook, hoping Ringer had somehow escaped.

But as days turned into weeks, Christine wept, “I guess it’s just us three now.”

Then one day, two months after the fire, they visited the house one last time before contractors began demolition to rebuild. Only this time, Chloe stopped in the living room.

Sniffing wildly at the floor, Chloe’s head tilted.

“What’s she up to?” Christine wondered as Chloe licked at the floorboards, sticking her head into a small hole in the floor over and over again.

Baffled, Christine grabbed a flashlight. And as she shone it into the tiny space, she heard a faint meow.

It was so quiet, Christine wondered if she had imagined it. But what if a stray was trapped under there? Besides, Chloe wouldn’t stop scratching at the floor and running around that spot in circles.

Christine bent down closely to the floor. “There is a cat in there!” she realized. She went to find cat food. And when she returned, she discovered that John had ripped up the floorboard— and when he scooped out the cat, he realized he had a white ring around his tail!

Christine froze in shock, goosebumps dotting her skin as she realized: It’s Ringer!

The only sound in the room was Chloe’s claws on the floor as she leapt with joy, as if to say: You’re back, furry brother! “This cat is a miracle!” the vet marveled. Though the once 10-pound cat had lost nearly half his weight, Ringer was otherwise healthy. And after a night with a feeding tube, he was back in Christine’s arms and cuddling with Chloe!

Today, “Chloe doesn’t let Ringer out of her sight for a moment. And the way Ringer purrs sounds like he’s saying, ‘Thank you for finding me !’” Christine beams. “Chloe truly is our furry hero!”

“Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.” A.A. Milne