No wonder people say cats have nine lives. Not only are they resilient, but they are also incredibly enduring travelers!
According to a report by The Washington Times, a couple named Benny Anguiano and Susanne Anguiano from Salinas, Northern California, took their pet cat Rayne Beau camping in Yellowstone National Park in early June last year. Unexpectedly, during the trip, Rayne was frightened and darted into the bushes, disappearing without a trace.
The couple searched the forest extensively, offering Rayne's favorite snacks and toys in hopes of luring her back to the campsite, but to no avail. A Yellowstone park employee revealed that a pack of wild wolves had attacked a small dog nearby. If Rayne managed to survive that night, it would truly be a stroke of luck.
However, Rayne did not return by the end of the trip. Heartbroken, the couple had to leave, with Susanne expressing, "We had to leave her behind. It was a very painful day because I felt like I had abandoned her!"
As they left Yellowstone, Susanne noticed a double rainbow in the sky. "To me, it meant that everything was still closely connected," she said, interpreting it as a good omen that Rayne would one day come home.
Sure enough, 60 days later, the couple received news from PetWatch, a pet microchip registration service, that Rayne had been found. She was at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Roseville, Northern California, over 800 miles (about 1,287 kilometers) from Yellowstone and approximately 200 miles (321 kilometers) from their home. This confirmed that Rayne had been heading in the right direction.
At the SPCA, the couple learned that a woman had found Rayne wandering alone on the street and suspected she was a lost pet. The woman brought her to the shelter, where staff scanned Rayne's microchip and successfully contacted her owners.
Rayne arrived home on August 4th. The couple said she looked exhausted and weak, seemingly lacking the strength to continue walking. They were grateful to the kind woman who found her, calling her an angel.
Finally, the couple urged all pet owners to implant microchips in their pets and register them online. They even equipped Rayne with a GPS tracker for global tracking. Although they still do not know how Rayne managed to travel such a long distance alone, they are relieved the story ended well and believe that Rayne's survival foretells good fortune ahead.
