Cat Journeys 200 Miles to Get Home, Baffling Scientists

Mon Jan 21, 2013 11:08 pm » by **Spock**

First Posted: Jan 21, 2013 01:20 PM EST

(Photo : Flickr) Little research has been conducted on a cat's ability to navigate long distances.

It sounds like something out of a children's movie. Holly the cat was vacationing with her owners in Daytona Beach when she got lost. Although her owners searched for her, they couldn't find four-year-old tortoiseshell. Eventually, they gave up and drove home to West Palm Beach- 200 miles away. That didn't deter Holly, though. Almost two months later, the cat showed up in their neighborhood- staggering, weak, and emaciated, but still alive.

The cat's journey has baffled scientists. How did Holly, a common housecat, navigate her way back home? There have been studies conducted on the migratory nature of birds, turtles, and insects, but no research on the ability of cats to travel long distances. Although there has been documentation of dogs travelling long distances to find their ways back home, these instances are still relatively rare. In addition, scientists have chalked up a dog's sense of navigation to its inheritance of a wolf's ability to navigate.

Currently, the closest study concerning cat navigation is being conducted by the Kitty Cams project. This endeavor has outfitted 55 cats with small cameras to research exactly what they're doing when let outside by their owners. The project collected 37 hours of footage per cat and found that the cats engaged in activities such as hunting and risky behavior such as crossing roads and drinking unknown substances.

Holly isn't the first cat to make a sizeable trek, according to Smithsonian.com. Howie, a Persian cat, travelled 1,000 miles across the Australian outback in order to find his owners. It took him 12 months, but he succeeded.

However Holly did it, the important thing is that she's now back home with her family.

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Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:41 am » by **Shemagh**

When I broke up with my Ex. I took our cat Charlie to live with me 5 miles away from our old home, he was brought here in a basket, in a car and had no idea where he was. I kept him in for three day's, as recommended to get him used to his new environment, but he was an outdoor cat and fretted to get out of the house. One night he jumped up on the windowsill and was so agitated and crying to get out that I gave in and let him out the backdoor. He disappeared, and turned up 5 day's later at our old home, I swear that the only thing that he saw and could recognise,out of that window, was the Moon. Maybe I'm nuts but I believe that cat got back to his old stomping ground by looking at the night sky!

Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:50 am » by **Butlincat**

Shemagh wrote:When I broke up with my Ex. I took our cat Charlie to live with me 5 miles away from our old home, he was brought here in a basket, in a car and had no idea where he was. I kept him in for three day's, as recommended to get him used to his new environment, but he was an outdoor cat and fretted to get out of the house. One night he jumped up on the windowsill and was so agitated and crying to get out that I gave in and let him out the backdoor. He disappeared, and turned up 5 day's later at our old home, I swear that the only thing that he saw and could recognise,out of that window, was the Moon. Maybe I'm nuts but I believe that cat got back to his old stomping ground by looking at the night sky!

hi - there is a book called "Incredible Cats" by David Greene, which if youre a bookreader or not is well worth the read....best...butlincat :alien:

Tue Jan 22, 2013 12:56 am » by **Shemagh**

Butlincat wrote:
Shemagh wrote:When I broke up with my Ex. I took our cat Charlie to live with me 5 miles away from our old home, he was brought here in a basket, in a car and had no idea where he was. I kept him in for three day's, as recommended to get him used to his new environment, but he was an outdoor cat and fretted to get out of the house. One night he jumped up on the windowsill and was so agitated and crying to get out that I gave in and let him out the backdoor. He disappeared, and turned up 5 day's later at our old home, I swear that the only thing that he saw and could recognise,out of that window, was the Moon. Maybe I'm nuts but I believe that cat got back to his old stomping ground by looking at the night sky!

hi - there is a book called "Incredible Cats" by David Greene, which if youre a bookreader or not is well worth the read....best...butlincat

Thank you! and welcome!

Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:02 am » by **Perry LaGuardia**

Butlincat wrote:
Shemagh wrote:When I broke up with my Ex. I took our cat Charlie to live with me 5 miles away from our old home, he was brought here in a basket, in a car and had no idea where he was. I kept him in for three day's, as recommended to get him used to his new environment, but he was an outdoor cat and fretted to get out of the house. One night he jumped up on the windowsill and was so agitated and crying to get out that I gave in and let him out the backdoor. He disappeared, and turned up 5 day's later at our old home, I swear that the only thing that he saw and could recognise,out of that window, was the Moon. Maybe I'm nuts but I believe that cat got back to his old stomping ground by looking at the night sky!

hi - there is a book called "Incredible Cats" by David Greene, which if youre a bookreader or not is well worth the read....best...butlincat

May 2008 and only one post...Now that is what I call a super lurker.... or maybe even the 'original lurker' that all lurkers are spawned from...Or a sleeper :mrgreen:

Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:03 am » by **E6722maj**

great story. good for Holly. she looks just like my Lynus did

.

Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:09 am » by **99socks**

E6722maj wrote:great story. good for Holly. she looks just like my Lynus did

.

I thought of you when I first read the OP...

Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:15 am » by **E6722maj**

99socks wrote: "I thought of you when I first read the OP..."

he's gone but not forgotten :cheers:

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Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:16 am » by **Cornbread714**

I have had the same experience with cats.

Once, when I was a kid, we had this mama cat that kept cranking out litters - I have no idea why we didn't get her spayed, but it was back in the 60s (yes, I'm that fucking old).

Anyway, we would try to give the kittens away, and many would end up at the cat lady's home across the street, but sometimes we had a few extras.

My mom would have us put the extras in a box and drive them to the rice mill on the edge of town, assuring us kids that they would lead a healthy and productive life chasing rats and would be taken care of by the rice mill employees (yeah, right...).

We would drop them off on the side of the road in front of the rice mill (I am having big guilt pangs remembering this, lol), but at least one or two made it all the way back home - a couple of miles away.

I have heard many other stories along these lines, some involving dogs. Many animals seem to have built-in GPS systems, for sure - birds, fish, whales and many mammals.

I have never quite bought the story that humans are the pinnacle of evolution...

Tue Jan 22, 2013 1:19 am » by **E6722maj**

it really is amazing how cats can do this navigational feat. proper homing instinct :think:

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