A lost cat’s mysterious two-month, 900-mile journey home to California

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A gray cat who leads an extraordinary life of beach visits and trips to the lake undertook his greatest adventure alone: ​​traveling hundreds of miles from Wyoming to California.

But how the cat named Rayne Beau — pronounced “Rainbow” — got home two months after getting lost during a summer camping trip in Yellowstone National Park remains a mystery.

Benny and Susanne Anguiano arrived at Fishing Bridge RV Park in Yellowstone with their two cats on June 4 for their first trip into the woods. But shortly after their arrival, Rayne Beau became frightened and ran into the nearby trees.

The couple searched for him for four days, even laying out his favorite treats and toys. When they finally had to drive back to Salinas, California, on June 8, Susanne Anguiano said she was devastated but never gave up hope of finding him.

“We were driving into the Nevada desert and suddenly I saw a double rainbow. I took a picture of it and thought, this is a sign. This is a sign for our rainbow that it’s going to be OK,” she said.

In August, the Anguianos received startling news when a microchip manufacturer told them their cat was at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Roseville, California, nearly 900 miles from Yellowstone. He was only about 200 miles from his home in Salinas.

A woman who first saw Rayne Beau wandering the streets of the northern California city fed him and gave him water until she caught him on August 3 and brought him to the local animal rescue group.

The next day, the Anguianos drove to Roseville and picked up their cat, who had lost 6 pounds.

“I am convinced that he covered most of the distance on his own. His paws were really battered. He had lost 40% of his body weight and had very low protein levels due to inadequate nutrition. That’s why he was not cared for,” said Susanne Anguiano.

The couple still doesn’t know how their cat ended up in Roseville, but believes she was trying to get home. They’ve turned to the media to fill in the gaps.

Benny Anguiano said that in addition to microchipping their cats, they have now equipped two of them with AirTags and Rayne Beau with a global GPS tracker.

The cats love traveling in the RV and watching deer, squirrels and other animals from the large windows. But the family isn’t ready to travel with their pets again anytime soon, he said.

“It was a very ugly feeling after we lost him,” said Benny Anguiano. “We have to practice camping at home and camp in the driveway so he gets used to it.”

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Valdes reported from Seattle.