Missing cat makes 300-mile journey in journey from Scotland to Coventry leaving homeowners gobsmacked
A Scottish cat has left its owners gobsmacked after it turned up over 300 miles away in Coventry. Beans, a ginger and white feline from Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, disappeared from his home at the end of October after going out “as normal”.
His owners, Cara, 40, and Colin McBurnie, 51, scoured the local area but to no avail. However, they received an unexpected call from Cats Protection in November, informing them that thanks to his microchip, Beans had been found in Coventry.
Ms McBurnie said: “Beans loves to be outside and in gardens,” and “He went out as normal because he likes to go for a wander but always comes home for some food, usually after a few hours.”
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She added: “We searched and searched, looking everywhere. I’ve been out every day looking but thought something must have happened to him. I didn’t really expect to see him again but joined lots of local lost and found Facebook pages, then further afield in Scotland I didn’t think to look in England, I didn’t imagine he could have gone that far.”
Beans had embarked on a journey further than his owner could ever have imagined, ending up in the West Midlands. He was spotted by Kelly Ryan, who said: “I have an outdoor cat box with some straw in it and started noticing a cat hanging round. I didn’t feed him straight away as I thought he was probably owned, then one night saw him sleeping in the cat box and he was still there the next day, then the one after that.”
Ms Ryan, who initially thought Beans was a local prowler, said: “I just gave him a few biscuits to start with but heard he was going to visit other neighbours too and it felt like he was around too much and that something wasn’t quite right.”
After posting about the adventurous moggy on Facebook, she got in touch with Cats Protection, who managed to scan the kitty. “I was so relieved when he had a chip and a loving family who had registered him as missing,” Ms Ryan expressed her relief.
She also gushed about the feline’s safe return, saying, “He really is a miracle and I’m so grateful to the volunteers for helping him find his way home.”
Cats Protection Coventry’s Wendy Harris broke the brilliant news to Ms McBurnie on November 12, leading Beans’ owners to undertake a whopping 600-mile round trip to get their beloved pet back. Ms McBurnie was astonishingly stunned: “I couldn’t believe it when Wendy told me, I was shocked out of (my) mind that he was still alive, and how he travelled over 300 miles.”
She further narrated their heartfelt reunion: “When we got him back, we let him out in the car for a cuddle then put him back in his carrier for the long journey.”
The homecoming was filled with rest and affection as Ms McBurnie said, “We were all exhausted and he slept in the bed all night by my husband. Even my other cat, Missy, was happy to see him, they usually keep a bit of a distance but had a nice moment and a sniff together.”
Emphasising the importance of microchipping, she added, “I’m so glad we had him microchipped and updated his record. There’s no way he’d have come back to us otherwise.”
As for Beans’ epic adventure covering 300 miles, everyone is left wondering how he managed such an incredible feat.
Madison Rogers, Cats Protection’s top dog in advocacy and campaigns, raved about the power of technology saving the day for a lost moggy: “It’s a real testament to the power of the microchip that Beans could be reunited with his owners just 24 hours after being scanned. Without a chip it’s unlikely Beans would ever have found his way back to the family who love him so much.”
For more info on what to do with a stray, check out www.cats.org.uk/stray-cats.
