RIGHT: Geoffrey travelled from his Isle of Wight home to the Yorkshire resort of Whitby. Photo: ROSS PARRY03 Oct 2009
An intrepid cat called Geoffrey travelled over 300 miles in the luggage compartment of a coach from his Isle of Wight home to the Yorkshire resort of Whitby before being found.
By Alastair Jamieson
Published: 11:00PM BST 03 Oct 2009
The fifteen-month-old bengal has been known to go off for a night or two but when he disappeared for three weeks his owners thought they may never see him again – until he turned up in North Yorkshire.
Cat lovers Cindy and Tim Whitbread could not believe it when they got a telephone call on Monday to say their pet was alive and well despite his ten-hour journey by road.
Nurse Cindy, who has had Geoffrey from being a kitten, said: "Geoffrey cannot even stand being in the car for two minutes, if he has to go to the vet he starts wailing when the car starts moving. I can't believe he's travelled that far. He must have been beside himself.
"I'm surprised nobody heard him."
The only explanation for Geoffrey's jaunt is that he must have hopped into the luggage compartment of one of the many coaches that pull up at nearby hotels and B&Bs in the tourist destination.
He has then made an hour long journey to get to the ferry port, travelled for an hour over the English Channel and then headed up on the slow coach ride to the North of England.
Mum-of-two Cindy said: "All-in-all he must have been travelling for about 10 hours – it's 326 miles. At least he went somewhere lovely. It has made it a whole lot nicer to come and pick him up.
"On the day he disappeared he had his breakfast and then wondered off as usual, he often goes to the local café because they give him titbits to eat.
"We feared the worst because he doesn't even have a collar – he likes climbing trees and are scared he might end up choking himself. Thank God he was chipped."
The 36-year-old picked Geoffrey up from the vet on Friday along with her husband, Tim, 50, who is in the RAF.
The vet had given Geoffrey an sedative so his journey home would be a bit more restful.
Delighted Cindy said: "He looks a little bit thinner, but he looks OK. We are so pleased to have him back."
Geoffrey was found in a field in Whitby a week ago by 10-year-old Zac Archibald who took the cat home to his mum Chris, 49, and together they nursed him back to health.
Chris said: "We put posters up and asked around the village in the hope of finding his owners. After a couple of days we took him to the vet to see if he was chipped.
"I thought I was hearing things when they scanned him and found out he was from the Isle of Wight."
Cindy said: "We are so grateful to the family who found him, they did a great job of looking after him for us.
"He was so happy to see us, and he looks really well. I can't wait to get him home because our kids, Simon, 17, and Peter, 12, have missed him so much."
RSPCA spokesperson Sophie Corless said: "Microchipping is recommended as an effective way of linking pets to owners, and increasing the chances of them being reunited if lost, stolen or they stray.
"Once you have had your pet microchipped you should register your details and keep them up to date."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6258159/Lost-cat-travels-300-miles-on-coach.html
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