Couple suing Islip hotel after their cat goes missing

A Michigan couple has filed a federal lawsuit against a Marriott hotel on Long Island for allegedly losing their beloved but "very shy" cat Cotton, and then misleading them and leaving the pet's whereabouts in feline limbo.

Jeffrey and Shoshanah Johnson, who now live in Israel, say they brought the 2-year-old female kitty with them to stay at the Marriott Residence Inn in Islip in July. But when they had to catch their plane home, Cotton had gone into hiding in their room.

Hotel staff agreed to take care of the cat, take it to a vet and have it shipped on El Al to the Johnsons when it reappeared, the lawsuit says -- and notified them a few days later that the cat came out while a new guest was in the room and had been secured.

After that, however, a hotel manager allegedly took the cat home with her, and Cotton ended up "trapped inside a wall . . . without food or water." Then the cat apparently escaped in the Ronkonkoma area.

"When Cotton was finally found in her home they tried to get her in its cage during which Cotton attacked and wounded a family member before it ran to a window and pushed against the screen to escape . . ." explained an email appended to the lawsuit from an executive for the franchisee that operates the hotel.

Jeffrey Johnson returned in August to search for Cotton -- even enlisting help from local animal rescue groups, and filing complaints with the Suffolk police and SPCA -- all to no avail, and with little help from the hotel, the lawsuit says.

The suit, filed on Thursday, claims the hotel's negligence caused "sleepless nights, mental anguish, physical pain, and emotional distress to the extent that Mrs. Johnson needed treatments." It also seeks punitive damages for abuse Cotton allegedly suffered.

The general manager of the Residence Inn did not return a call for comment.