# Lost cat treks 200 miles back home. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805 "2013-01-20T15:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805/1 "2013-01-20T15:12:55Z")
\*Nobody knows how it happened: an indoor housecat who got lost on a family excursion managing, after two months and about 200 miles, to return to her hometown. Even scientists are baffled by how Holly, a 4-year-old tortoiseshell who in early November became separated from Jacob and Bonnie Richter at an R.V. rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., appeared on New Year’s Eve — staggering, weak and emaciated — in a backyard about a mile from the Richter’s house in West Palm Beach. But Holly not only had distinctive black-and-brown harlequin patterns on her fur, but also an **implanted microchip to identify her** \*. [Story](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/one-cats-incredible-journey/?hp). ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805/2 "2013-01-20T15:43:01Z")
I love stories with happy endings! ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805/3 "2013-01-20T16:06:59Z")
As a kid, my siblings and I regularly “adopted” stray cats (as in began feeding them without our parents’ knowledge). Just as regularly, Dad would take the cats “for a ride” – i.e., drive several miles out of town and drop them off somewhere. They very often made their way back to us – and these were not beloved pets of many years, but strays who’d been hanging around for a week or two at most. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805/4 "2013-01-20T18:56:15Z")
Your dad just drove around the block fifty or sixty times in hopes of discouraging you from feeding the strays. He then pet them gently on the head, gave them a tuna-treat, and let them go by the side of the house. Cite: I’m a dad. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lost-cat-treks-200-miles-back-home/647805/5 "2013-01-20T20:27:38Z")
Wow, what a neat story. Many years ago a feral cat gave birth to some kittens under a house I was living in. We got the kittens tamed and ended up finding homes for them. One - he was a young adult by then - went to live with some people about 5 miles away and across a freeway. A week later, he was back at our house. Got in touch with the owners who came and picked him up again and promised to keep him inside; he never did return so hopefully all remained well.