Cats are notoriously fickle and hard to please, but they're also
known to be street-smart, and in these unique cases, remarkable
travelers.
1. Singa, the sea-faring feline
Who said cats hated water? One was discovered in a shipping
container at the port of Schiedam, Netherlands, in February this
year, hungry and worn after making a lengthy journey across the
seas from Singapore.
After being picked up by the SPCA, he was featured in its magazine,
Dier, and became a hit on social media when the Cat Welfare Society
posted his plight on its Facebook page,
2. Emily, the tabby cat
Having wandered from her Appleton, Wisconsin home in September 2004
to a nearby paper company's distribution centre, Emily did what
cats do best - curl up into a container of paper bales and go to
sleep.
What followed was an incredible journey spanning nearly four
months: the container went by truck to Chicago, then by ship to
Belgium, where the furry stowaway eventually ended up in a
laminating company in Nancy, France, where workers contacted her
veterinarian, who then called her owners.
She ended up travelling home in some style, flying in business
class on board a Continental Airlines flight.
3. Clyde, a purebred Himalayan cat
Five years ago, Clyde stumbled into a hospital in Cloncurry,
Queensland, in Australia. A nurse adopted him and took him to a
local veterinarian. A scan showed an embedded microchip, which
revealed that his owner resided in Tasmania, 3,800km away.
It turned out that Clyde belonged to Katrina Phillips, who bought
him as a birthday present for her daughter. He had disappeared
three years earlier.
4. Holly, a tortoiseshell cat
One high-profile example of a cat having a decent sense of
direction was that of four-year-old Holly. She had run away from
owners Jacob and Bonnie Richter's motor home at the Daytona
International Speedway in November 2012, apparently frightened by
fireworks.
The couple, who lived in West Palm Beach, Florida, searched for her
over the next two months without success, until their neighbour
spotted the weak and emaciated cat in his backyard some 62 days
later. Holly had travelled about 307km, according to a local
television station report. She was identified through her
microchip.
5. Giggle-Blizzard, the two-legged cat
The distance Giggle-Blizzard had to travel might be comparatively
small in contrast to her counterparts on this list, but it is
nonetheless an inspirational tale of human - er, feline -
resilience.
After the cat went missing for 11 days in Spring Hill, Florida, in
December 2009, owner Tracie Steger heard a yelp of pain from her
beloved kitty on Thanksgiving night. She rushed out to find
Giggle-Blizzard with her hind legs smashed by a car. It took two
operations and $3,000 to restore the use of her legs. The cat had
found her way home, thanks to the many times she had walked
unleashed along with Steger's other pets.