Mrs. Ashboro's Cat (2004)

Ghost Cat DVD

Also Known As: Ghost Cat or The Cat That Came Back
Cellar Door Productions
Starring: Ellen Page, Shirley Knight, Michael Ontkean
Also Starring: Baretta
Directed by: Don McBrearty

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: An Animal Planet movie about a father, Wes Merritt (Michael Ontkean) and his daughter Natalie (Ellen Page) moving to a small town and buying the home of Mrs. Ashboro (Shirley Knight), a woman who has recently passed, only to have the spirit of her cat Margaret watch over those the woman cared about.

Cinema Cat: Margaret is a gray and white cat which wins the heart of Natalie the first time she sees her in Mrs. Ashboro’s home.

Ghost Cat - Natalie meets gray and white cat Margaret

Mrs. Ashboro notes how Margaret seems to accept Natalie when she is usually unfriendly with strangers. She later learns that she knew Natalie’s mother as a child.

Ghost Cat - Natalie holds gray and white cat Margaret

Mrs. Ashboro passes away and Natalie and her father buy the house. Immediately Natalie starts to feel a presence in the home. Eventually she realizes it is the ghost of Margaret.

Ghost Cat - gray and white ghost cat Margaret

Margaret helps several times, leading Natalie to the neighboring animal shelter when the animals are in danger from Mrs. Ashboro’s money-crazed nephew (he has promised a real estate guy that he would help get the neighbor woman who runs the shelter to sell to make way for a new development).

Ghost Cat - gray and white ghost cat Margaret leads Natalie

At one point Natalie and the brothers who live next door try to contact Margaret via a séance. It’s then that Margaret leads them to the money Mrs. Ashboro left to keep the shelter going. Margaret was played by cat actor Baretta and trained by Sue Parker.

Ghost Cat - gray and white ghost cat Margaret close