We’ve all heard stories of pets that traveled great distances for one reason or another—usually to return home after being moved. Many of the animals who navigate on their own to find their way back to their families are cats. You know, those aloof creatures who don’t rely on us or care about us. Furry felines without a heart. Yeah right!
One of my favorite animal movies is “The Incredible Journey” where the two dogs and the cat travel successfully to their destination together. That was only a movie, but here are some stories of real cats who, for one reason or another and with inbred technology (if you will) have traveled great distances to reunite with their special human. If you doubt these stories, remember that some of these animals were micro-chipped and some had tell-tale deformities or marks that positively identified them.
In one case, a cat was left with relatives 1,000 miles from home while the family went on an extended vacation. The cat ran away from the relatives’ house and showed up a year later at his home, having crossed, they say, a thousand miles of Australian outback.
In France, a cat traveled across busy highways, forests and fields to reunite with his owner 
at a hospital where the cat had never been before. A nurse was astounded to walk into this gentleman’s room and find the cat curled up on the bed with him. But probably not as surprised as the man was to have his cat walk through the door to his hospital room.
The most stunning stories are those of cats who were left behind when the family moved across country. In one case, the family gave their cat to a neighbor and moved 300 miles away. The cat eventually showed up at the new residence, having crossed two large rivers in the process.
My favorite story is about the Persian who traveled 1,500 miles from California to Oklahoma and found his people. This cat had a hip deformity that made it uncomfortable for her to ride long distances in the car, so the people felt it was in her best interest to leave her behind. She managed to make that trip, however, to a place where she had never been, with the deformity. Amazing!!!
Katie
How is this possible? You know, attached pets aren’t the only creatures that seem to have built in GPS systems. Many other species such as, migrating birds, sea turtles, sharks, pigeons, even the dung beetle can navigate to specific destinations even in the dark and under water, for example. Scientists say various species rely on the stars, some rely on the earth’s magnetic field, but this doesn’t seem to be a logical answer to how cats find their humans when the human is someplace where the cat has never been. I hate to think of the experiments necessary to learn what makes cats and even dogs find their way like some do. I’d rather chalk it up to something as mysterious as psychic abilities. They connect with their human at some clairvoyant level. What do you think?
