A lost cat’s incredible 2-month, 1400 km journey to San Francisco, lost cat, cat travels back home, san francisco cat, cat journeys back home, homeward bound journey
Ben Madilynn
San Francisco: A grey cat named Rayne Beau, who enjoyed beach trips and lake adventures, embarked on an extraordinary journey when he got lost in Yellowstone National Park. How he managed to travel nearly 900 miles from Wyoming to California remains a mystery.
Benny and Susanne Anguiano took Rayne Beau and their other cat on their first camping trip to Yellowstone, arriving on June 4. Shortly after their arrival, Rayne Beau became frightened and darted into the nearby woods. The couple searched for him for four days, leaving out his favourite treats and toys. When they had to return home to Salinas, California, on June 8, Susanne felt heartbroken but kept hope alive.
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“We were entering the Nevada desert and all of a sudden I see a double rainbow. And I took a picture of it and I thought, that’s a sign. That’s a sign for our rainbow that he’s going to be okay,” she said.
In August, the Anguianos received incredible news from a microchip company: their cat had been found at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Roseville, California—about 1,448 kilometres (900 miles) from where he went missing and only 200 miles from home. A kind woman had spotted Rayne Beau wandering the streets, feeding him and eventually trapping him on August 3 to take him to the SPCA.
The next day, the couple drove to Roseville to reunite with Rayne Beau, who had lost 6 pounds. “I believe truly that he made that trek mostly on his own. His paws were really beat up. Lost 40% of his body weight, had really low protein levels because of inadequate nutrition. So he was not cared for,” Susanne Anguiano said.
While they are still puzzled about how he made the long journey, they believe he was trying to find his way home.
Benny Anguiano mentioned that in addition to microchipping, they have equipped their cats with air tags and Rayne Beau with a GPS tracker. Although the cats enjoy travelling in their camper and watching wildlife from the windows, the family isn’t planning another trip with their pets anytime soon.
“It was a very ugly feeling after we lost him,” Benny Anguiano said. “We’ll have to practise camping at home and camp in the driveway to get him used to it.”
