Tsunami Cat Finds Family After 3 Years Apart [Awww]

If you’re tired of bad news this month, we’ve got a story about a tsunami, a cat, and a reunion in Japan that was three years in the making… although the report didn’t come in time for Caturday.

Following a devastating tsunami, and unimaginable loss of (human and animal) life, there were some stories of dog and cat reunions that provided a bright spot amid all the heartbreaking reports. Owners who cried with joy after finding a presumably lost animal companion were understandably featured in the media globally after all the death and destruction.

The Japanese tsunami continued to cycle into the news, with odd items washing up for years after the disaster in March of that year.

Lost in the destruction of the 2011 tsunami, among many other things, was a black cat named Suika, from the Ofunato, Iwate prefecture.

Owners Kazuko and Takeo Yamagishi spent three months searching a tsunami-ravaged area, hoping for signs their beloved Suika had miraculously survived the natural disaster. Alas, no sightings of their dear kitten were spotted, and the Yamagishis were forced to accept that Suika, like many other pets, had perished in the wave.

The UK’s Telegraph reports that while the couple’s initial efforts were futile, the hoped for miracle did indeed seemingly occur — and after three years on the run, Suika has been located safe.

The paper reports:

“However, in a rare happy twist more than three years on, the cat was recently spotted in a neighbouring town and taken to the authorities before the owners were tracked down via its collar information, according to Japanese media… Although the owners are still unsure as to where the cat has been for the past three years, their joy was evident as they were reunited at Ofunato Health Centre.”

The BBC adds:

“But on 10 April another couple spotted a black cat curled up in a nearby pine forest. He was friendly and wore a collar, and they took it to the Ofunato Health Centre. After several days nobody had claimed the cat, so the centre put an announcement in a local paper.”

The site quotes Mrs. Yamagishi, now 64, as saying of the discovery and her hide and seek champion cat:

“Where have you been[?]… It’s just like a dream.”

As for the tsunami cat’s whereabouts, Suika isn’t talking — and it’s likely the feline lived by her wits for the three years she was missing. However, a bell on her collar also suggests that the cat was not totally on her own while separated from her owners.