Current:Home > reviewsA cat went missing in Wyoming. 2 months later, he was found in his home state, California. -Momentum Wealth Path
A cat went missing in Wyoming. 2 months later, he was found in his home state, California.
View
Date:2025-04-27 03:54:28
This story was updated to add a photo.
The love between a pet and its owner knows no bounds nor state lines.
After going missing in Yellowstone National Park, a two-year-old cat traveled more than 800 miles toward its California home.
Siamese cat Rayne Beau, pronounced "rainbow," ran off into the trees during a trip to the Wyoming park in June, according his owners Benny and Susanne Anguiano. The couple, based out of Salinas in Monterey County, thought they had seen the last of their beloved pet.
However, two months later, they received a voicemail from an animal shelter in Roseville, about a 30 minutes northeast of Sacramento, informing them that Rayne Beau was ready for pick up.
The pair's five day trip at Yellowstone took a downturn after several days spent scouring the park, with Benny roaming the forest wearing bear repellant. Their relentless search ended June 8 when their park reservation ended, and the couple returned home devastated. Benny told Susanne they could not stay at the park forever, and park rangers said they would inform them if Rayne Beau was spotted.
"I understood that, but I just made him stay until the very last minute, that's for sure. And even as we were driving out, I had my window down. I'm still calling him and we're still scanning the road. It was pretty traumatic," Susanne told USA TODAY Thursday.
Rayne Beau's twin cat, Starr Jasmine, called out for her brother from a carrier. Susanne said she knew her twin was gone. The ride home was sorrowful for her as the cat grappled with being apart from her twin for the first time ever.
Couple initially skeptical of shelter's phone call
The Anguianos held onto hope despite mounting despair. Park officials said some pets are found months later, Benny said. As they crossed the state line into Idaho, the couple saw a double rainbow, assuring Susanne that Rayne Beau "is being taken care of."
Yet, the pair found themselves in complete disbelief when a voicemail Aug. 3 from the Placer SPCA shelter in Roseville said that their cat had been found. Skeptical of a potential scam, Susanne said it wasn't until her husband and daughter were also contacted that they began taking the message seriously.
"I said, 'take a picture. I want to make sure I don't drive three-and-a-half hours and it's not my cat,'" Benny said. "So they did. About 20 minutes later, they sent a picture and yep, it was him."
The two reserved their emotions until they could see the cat, afraid of false hope. But the moment they laid eyes on Rayne Beau, they knew they had been reunited.
"When we for sure knew, we were in tears. We were all hugging and crying," Susanne said.
Rayne Beau and Starr Jasmine are back to sleeping, playing and jumping together after a brutal period apart. The couple now has three cats, including new addition Maxx, who they adopted as a companion for Starr while she was alone.
Cat lost nearly half his bodyweight while missing
While it's unclear how Rayne Beau made his way from Wyoming to California, his appearance shows the journey did not come without struggles. Susanne said his paws were calloused, dry and cracked.
Rayne Beau weighed between 7 and 8 pounds, down from his initial 13 pound weight, according to Susanne. Veterinarians said bloodwork showed low protein levels from inadequate nutrition, leading the family to believe no one cared for him during those 60 days.
"Poor thing looked like he was six months old, nine months old. He was really little, all skin and bones. He had lost half his body weight," Benny said. "He was in starvation mode. So now he's worked himself out of that."
Susanne said both Rayne Beau and Starr were microchipped as required by the local rescue shelter from where they had adopted the cats. However, she said she was grateful Starr wasn't the one who ran off, as her microchip had shortly fallen out when she was spayed as a kitten, according to a local shelter that performed procedure.
She urges all dog and cat owners to not only microchip their pets, but register their owners name and contact information because life can be unpredictable.
"If you love your pet you will," Susanne said. "You will do that if you ever want to see them again, because anything can happen. As careful as you can be, animals are animals and something can happen like with us, and they get away."
veryGood! (76)
Related
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Get in the Halloween Spirit With the Return of BaubleBar’s Iconic Jewelry Collection
- 'Motivated by insatiable greed': Miami real estate agent who used PPP funds on Bentley sentenced
- Broadway Star Chris Peluso Dead at 40
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson gets $1M raise, putting him among Big Ten's leaders
- Pentagon review finds structural changes needed at military service academies to address sexual harassment
- Georgia teacher fired for teaching fifth graders about gender binary
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- QB Derek Carr is still ‘adjusting’ to New Orleans Saints, but he's feeling rejuvenated
Ranking
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Southern Baptist leader resigns from top administrative post for lying on his resume about schooling
- Kansas City Chiefs superfan 'ChiefsAholic' indicted on bank robbery, money laundering charges
- Historic heat wave in Pacific Northwest may have killed 3 this week
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Florida man missing for five months found dead in Mississippi River
- Thousands more Mauritanians are making their way to the US, thanks to a route spread on social media
- Another person dies in Atlanta jail that’s under federal investigation
Recommendation
Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
Noah Lyles on Usain Bolt's 200-meter record: 'I know that I’m going to break it'
Connecticut kitten mystery solved, police say: Cat found in stolen, crashed car belongs to a suspect
Indoor pollution can make you sick. Here's how to keep your home's air clean
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
Former Kentucky prosecutor indicted on federal bribery, fraud charges
Human trafficking: A network of crime hidden across a vast American landscape
AP Week in Pictures: Global | Aug 11 - Aug. 18, 2023