A lost cat’s mysterious 2-month, 900-mile journey home to California

By Olga R. Rodriguez and Manuel Valdez Associated Press

3 months ago

In this photograph provided by Alexandra Betts, the cat, Rayne Beau, is seen eating food provid ... — In this photograph provided by Alexandra Betts, the cat, Rayne Beau, is seen eating food provide by Betts in Roseville, Calif., in Aug. 2024. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in June, Rayne Beau ran away from his California owners’ camper and ran into the woods. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found by Betts back in California and was later reunited with his family. (Alexandra Betts via AP)

This photograph provided by Susanne Anguiano shows her cat Rayne Beau sitting in Dec. 2022, in Salinas, Calif. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park, Rayne Beau ran away from Anguiano’s camper and his owners were unable to find him. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found back in California and was reunited with his family. (Susanne Anguiano via AP)

This photograph provided by Susanne Anguiano shows her cats Rayne Beau and Starr Jasmyn snuggling in Salinas, Calif., Sept. 10, 2024. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in June, Rayne Beau ran away from Anguiano’s camper and his owners were unable to find him. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found back in California and was reunited with his family. (Susanne Anguiano via AP)

This photograph provided by Susanne Anguiano shows her cat Rayne Beau looking out the window of a camper in July 2023. During a road trip to Yellowstone National Park in June, 2024, Rayne Beau ran away from Anguiano’s camper and his owners were unable to find him. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found back in California and was reunited with his family. (Susanne Anguiano via AP)

This photograph provided by Susanne Anguiano shows the wooded area where her cat Rayne Beau disappeared during a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park in June 2024. Rayne Beau ran away from Anguiano’s camper and his owners were unable to find him. Two months and nearly 900 miles later, the cat was found back in California and was reunited with his family. (Susanne Anguiano via AP)

SAN FRANCISCO — A gray cat living an extraordinary life of visits to the beach and trips to the lake went on his biggest adventure alone: traveling hundreds of miles from Wyoming to California.

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

Benny and Susanne Anguiano and their two cats arrived at Yellowstone’s Fishing Bridge RV Park on June 4 for the cats’ first trip to the forest. But soon after they arrived, Rayne Beau was startled and ran into the nearby trees.

The couple looked 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 crushed but never lost hope she would find him.

“We were entering the Nevada desert and all of a sudden I see a double rainbow. And I took a picture of it and I thought, that’s a sign. That’s a sign for our rainbow that he’s going to be okay,” she said.

In August, the Anguianos received amazing news when a microchip company messaged them that 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 away 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 trapped him on Aug. 3 and took him to the local SPCA.

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

“I believe truly that he made that trek mostly on his own. His paws were really beat up. Lost 40 percent of his body weight, had really low protein levels because of inadequate nutrition. So he was not cared for,” Susanne Anguiano said.

The couple still doesn’t know how their cat got to Roseville but believes he was trying to get home. They have reached out to the media hoping to fill in the blanks.

Benny Anguiano said that besides microchipping their cats, they now have also fitted two of them with air tags and Rayne Beau with a GPS global tracker.

The cats love traveling in the camper and looking out the big windows to see deer, squirrels and other animals. But the family is not ready to get on the road with their pets again any time soon, he said.

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

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Valdes reported from Seattle.