Cross-Country Cat: Cat Travels 2,000 Miles Undetected In U-Haul

A missing cat, who has now gained the name of “cross-country cat,” traveled more than 22 hundred miles, from South Carolina to the Arizona-California border, in the back of a U-Haul.

The cat, named Kevin, somehow managed to find his way into the U-Haul, and remained undetected until a food and agriculture inspector opened the door to the truck and heard his meows during a routine check at the border.

The woman driving the U-Haul said that Kevin was not hers and she had no idea who he belonged to or how he ended up in the U-Haul.

Emily Huffman of the Coachella Valley Animal Campus has been caring for Kevin since his arrival and said that she had never seen anything like this before.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. This is definitely a first for us.”

According to KESQ, Huffman believes that Kevin made the entire trip without any food or water. Upon arrival, she described him as being thin and dehydrated.

“His attitude is great and you could never guess that he has traveled across the country or been through any sort of trials in his life,” Huffman added.

Luckily, Kevin has a microchip, and the employees at Riverside County Animal Services’ Blythe shelter were able to locate his owner Cheryl Walls, who resides in Anderson, South Carolina.

When Walls was contacted, she revealed that she had not seen Kevin in over a year.

“How in the god’s name did he get to California?” Walls said. “That was my first thing. I was like, ‘All the way in California?'”

Walls explained that she had an emotional attachment to the cat because he shares a name with her late fiancé. She said she went to the local shelter in 2013, shortly after her fiancé passed away, to adopt a cat. By some stroke of fate, the cat she chose to adopt happened to be named Kevin.

“It was shortly after Kevin passed away and then when we went into the animal shelter it was so ironic or coincidental that we picked out one of the cats and his name was Kevin.”

Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team and Animal Solutions Konnection, two non-profit organizations, have offered to help get Kevin back home to Walls. Kevin will depart from Palm Springs International Airport on Wednesday morning to make his way back across the country, according to The Desert Sun.

Kevin the Cat is almost back in owner’s arms after cross-country flight from #RiversideCounty to South Carolina! pic.twitter.com/pw4KEuzNUG

— RivCO animalSERVICES (@helpinRIVcoPETS) March 19, 2015

“We have handled some pets with crazy back stories, and this is one more for the list,” Animal Services Director Robert Miller said in a statement. “The good news is we know the owner, she wants her pet back, and we’ll make that happen.”

What do you think about the “cross-country cat?” Leave your comments below.

[Image via Twitter]