Country roads, take me home… to the place… I belong! *breathe* West Virginia! Got stuck in your head huh? Not as stuck as this cat was when it realized his family was nowhere to be found.
One small kitten decided to wander out on an adventure the one day when it needed to be home on time - moving day. The imagination goes to work when you’re trying to think of what the cat was up to that was so important. The most delicious mouse? An Alice In Wonderland type of scenario? Abducted by aliens?
Regardless of what it was, it left the distraught family with little choice but to leave the cat behind with the hope of returning as soon as possible to find it waiting patiently. But the small ginger feline had different plans, and that involved the journey of a lifetime, trekking nearly 40 miles.
Halie Kutscher, the owner of the cat, was kind enough to share their story with Bored Panda, and what a story it is! Grab onto your seats and let’s paw into the details!
More info: Facebook
Oliver the cat decided to wander out on an adventure the one day he needed to return home, as the family was moving house
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
Moving home is never easy. Homes are heavy, requiring machinery to move them in one piece. But for many, this would be the most preferable option. The walls that made everyone feel safe, that saw many drawings and wet cloths, saw kids burn their first toast, saw a family share a tiny bowl of popcorn whilst watching Shrek, saw the kids grow, saw the parents fall more in love…
Only to be left behind.
But there’s always excitement for the new, yet daunting. The sense of familiarity still there in the people sharing said experience. A sense of home in beloved things and pets and toys. The things that make you feel like you belong somewhere. Safe. If one of those elements is misplaced, it can break apart the understanding of home.
Such feelings overwhelmed a 9-year-old boy named Max, when he realized their family cat wasn’t coming on the move to their new home nearly 40 miles away. Grief intertwined with hope for weeks as he cradled his toy cat Beanie Baby, wishing upon each and every star that his two-year-old cat, Oliver, would come back and home would return to what it was.
The family searched every nook and cranny, but with no sight of the cat and time running out, they had to make the tough choice to leave without him
Image credits: mama_kutsch
Let’s go back two months to the moment in time that turned this boy’s world upside down. The Kutscher family was getting ready to make the move from Bridgeport, West Virginia, to their new home in Morgantown. It would only be a short 45-minute drive, and everyone was excited to start a new chapter of their lives.
But that excitement would turn to worry when they noticed their beloved ginger cat was nowhere to be found. They thoroughly searched each familiar nook and cranny. Halie Kutscher recalled letting Oliver roam outside the night before, so as to prevent him getting caught up in the madness of moving. The cat was used to this, always returning home by morning time.
Not this time.
This devastated 9-year-old Max, who had chosen Oliver from a Humane Society animal shelter 2 years earlier when he was just a kitten
Image credits: mama_kutsch
Time was not on their side. They had to get going. After waiting as long as they could and searching everywhere they could think of, they made the difficult decision to leave, promising to come back over the next few months while the house sale was ongoing to search for their feline. “We knew that we had some time to keep coming back to the old house to look for him, so we were still hopeful,” Halie told The Dodo. “We would go back every weekend.”
And so they did. The Kutschers would return to their old house, put out food and call Oliver’s name. They’d also informed the neighbors of what had happened, asking them to keep an eye out for a ginger cat. Yet it seemed he had disappeared. “It was heartbreaking,” Halie told the News Observer. “My 9-year-old son would be walking up and down the street yelling his name, sobbing uncontrollably. It was a lot to deal with.”
The family returned each weekend to search for the cat, only to leave empty-handed. Mom Halie Kutscher said “it was heartbreaking,” but kept hoping for the best
Image credits: mama_kutsch
What kept them strong was faith. “I had to be strong for my son's sake,” Halie told Bored Panda. “We prayed together every night that Oliver would somehow come home to us, or that he found another home to be happy in, as long as he was safe it didn't matter.”
The boy found some comfort in a ginger cat Beanie Baby, which first belonged to his mom. “Beanie babies were the thing back then and I still have tons!” Halie explained. “Max has always had an overabundance of stuffed animals in his room but he never showed much connection to the orange beanie baby until after Oliver's disappearance.”
The boy found some comfort in a ginger cat Beanie Baby, praying each and every night for his cat to come home. It seems someone heard those prayers
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
Weeks passed and their time had run out. They couldn’t continue their search once their old house was sold, and their hope began to dissipate. The parents were preparing to have the heartbreaking talk with their son that Oliver was most likely gone. “His dad and I did not think we would have to deal with the loss of a pet at such an early age,” Halie said.
But Max kept hoping. He was the one who picked out Oliver at a Humane Society animal shelter when he was a tiny kitten. They were meant to grow up together. Each night he imagined how his stuffed ginger cat toy turned into Oliver. Someone or something heard the boy’s wish.
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
We jump from May 21 to July 25, two full months after Oliver’s disappearance; an orange cat found its way into the family’s garden. It sat, patiently waiting to be noticed. The feline didn’t have to wait long as Halie’s husband Nick pointed out the familiar-looking creature.
They were stunned beyond words. Surely their cat hadn’t made a 36-mile trek back to them? Halie called out to the cat with Oliver’s nickname “Roliver” and the cat immediately reacted. “He started bellowing,” she said. “It was so distinctive. It was like an, ‘I’m trying to tell you something meow.’ That’s when I knew, ‘Oh my god, that’s him.’”
“I scooped him right up in my arms,” she told The Dodo. “As soon as we got inside, I dropped to my knees and just held him sobbing. He stayed right there with me as the rest of the family and pets gathered around him.” Their family dog, a pitbull, seemed to recognize Oliver and came up to sniff him. “That’s how we knew it was 100% [Oliver],” Halie said.
Just to be 110% sure, they went to the vet for a microchip scan and wellness checkup. This was Oliver. He’d returned in an almost miraculous way. There was nothing wrong with him either! “He wasn't scared or timid or anything,” Halie said. “He just looked content and happy to be home, and tired.”
Nearly 2 months after Oliver’s disappearance, an orange cat appeared on their lawn. Halie called out Oliver’s nickname “Roliver” and the cat immediately reacted
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
While the cat takes a well-deserved catnap, let’s look into some explanations as to how this could have been possible. According to PetMD, cats have a special ability called a homing instinct that helps them find their way back home. Although the specifics of the skill are unknown, evidence supports the idea that cats are able to use the Earth’s geomagnetic fields, potentially combined with scent cues, to locate their homes.
So if your cat is lost, keep up hope. Keep checking animal shelters and checking in with your old neighbors regularly. You may be very lucky and reunite with your cat, long after it seemed likely. As stated by Upgrade Your Cat, if you’re going to have a cat that goes outside, the best thing you can do is prepare.
Make sure your cat already responds to the sound of food (and let them out before they eat). Try and confine them to your yard at first to let them get familiar with the smells and sights of the outdoors and make sure they have easy access back indoors at all times. Most importantly - get them microchipped just in case; a collar with a number or ID will help too.
Oliver had come home. All their other pets immediately recognized him, and a microchip check at the vet confirmed that it was their cat
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
Halie believes that Oliver’s innate ability to hunt and climb trees helped him avoid predators and survive all those months. “Our neighbors have watched him climb a tree and jump out of it to catch a bird mid-air. He's also brought us home many ‘presents’ that he liked to leave right on the front door mat for us to find in the morning,” she recalled.
She advises all pet owners to microchip their animals. And “when moving, completely empty one room and close the animals in there until you are ready to move them. In hindsight that is what we should have done, but we had 3 animals and 2 kids and a whole house to move. It was a hectic time!”
The feline somehow tracked down its loved ones and made the trek of a lifetime. The family is ecstatic to be reunited and encourage all to microchip their pets
Image credits: Halie Kutscher
Halie is happy to say that “Oliver and Max are doing great! He is as lovable as ever towards Max and everyone else in the family, including the other animals. Everything is definitely back to normal and we are so happy to be in our new home with all of our fur babies!”
We’re incredibly happy for the Kutscher family, especially Max. Stories like this make us believe that miracles are possible and that the last thing one should do is lose hope. We wish them all the best!
Let us know your thoughts on the story in the comments below, and I shall see you very soon in the next one!
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