People always think they have the weirdest pet story, but Nationwide has validated Andrea Brannen.

The insurance company announced Tuesday that Brannen’s cat, Minnow, had won the agency’s annual Hambone Award. The award is named after a dog who ate an entire Thanksgiving ham while stuck in a refrigerator.

Minnow was one of five animals competing for the most unusual pet insurance claims of the year.

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The people at Midway Animal Hospital in southern Forsyth County who helped save Minnow received $10,000 from Nationwide to fund medical care for pets in need.

“We are thrilled that those less fortunate in our community will be able to get quality vet care at our vet, Midway Animal Hospital. And Minnow is a happy kitty with her bag full of treats and toys from Nationwide,” Brannen told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday.

Minnow came back home after missing for three weeks with a broken rib and having lost a third of her body weight. That isn’t unique, but Minnow’s story is.

Brannen and her late husband had made an unplanned visit to an animal shelter, and she was drawn to Minnow, an outdoors short-hair brown tabby.

But they left the South Carolina shelter that day in 2016 without adopting her.

Regretting it, she called back the next day only to be told that Minnow had been adopted. When she got home, her husband Graham presented her Minnow.

Graham died before she moved to metro Atlanta with Minnow in spring 2018.

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When Minnow went missing, Brannen said she put up flyers all around town and even tried to lure the cat by leaving her litter box outside.

After three weeks without Minnow, Brannen was ready to give up. As she drove home from work one day, she started talking to her late husband.

She remembered saying: “All right, Graham. You brought Minnow home the first time. Now I need you to bring her home again.”

The next day, Brannen was taking out the trash when Minnow appeared at the back door.

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Nationwide spokeswoman Lindsey Zivoder previously said a team combed through the 1.5 million claims from last year to find the Hambone finalists.

As described by Nationwide, the four other finalists were:

• Tippythe athletic Border Collie mix from Arroyo Grande, California barreled into a steel trailer hitch while playing fetch and injured her snout.

• Jasper, the cat from Leander, Texas was treated for heat exposure after narrowly escaping a dryer disaster when he got stuck in the fluff cycle.

• Frank, the Rottweiler from Keyport, New Jersey found himself sniffing a porcupine that left quills up his snout.

• Maxthe Great Pyrenees from San Marcos, Texas who got his head stuck in a wild hog trap.

If you can't get enough, you can read about all the previous winners at hamboneaward.com.

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Joe Rich had moved to 3935 Paces Manor 2.5 year ago. on Tuesday, Sept. 22,2009, he was trapped at his house with no way out - but a boat. He has been ferrying various things back and forth and is surprised he still has power. Vinings residents were dealing with a major flooding issue Tuesday, as the Chattahoochee River made its way along the banks near Paces Ferry Road.  Many residents with upscale homes were hit hard, some for the second time since an earlier post millennia flooding episode. Since early Monday, seven lives have been taken and several other people remain missing. The record-setting rains also have closed schools and roads and have left people stranded in their homes. The river's level near Vinings was at 27.36 feet before daybreak Tuesday after cresting at 28.1 feet overnight. Flood stage is 14 feet, and anything above 20 feet is considered "major" flooding. (Photo: John Spink, jspink@ajc.com)