Missing Woburn Cat Found at His Family's Old Home

WOBURN, MA — Woburn resident Dafna Brown knew her 12-year-old cat Louie was a survivor, but she didn't think he would find his way home after being missing for 54 days.

She was even more surprised to find out that Louie, who had been with her family since he was a kitten, had made his way back to her family's old house on Blueberry Hill Road.

"He's very much a survivor and hunter," Brown told Patch."The vet has always told us that he's going to out-live any other cat that we will have."

Brown said that Louie had become accustomed to the area around her family's longtime Blueberry Hill Road residence, where he would often hunt and navigate the wilderness. Upon moving across the city to the Spence Farm area this summer, Brown and her family had taken all of the necessary steps to make sure Louie was familiar with his new surroundings, including keeping him indoors for two weeks and having supervised outdoor time with Brown's husband.

After acclimating him to the neighborhood, the Brown family felt comfortable letting Louie back to his usual outdoor activities. Unfortunately, Louie left the home on July 28 and didn't return. Brown's young children were devastated.

"My kids are pretty attached to him," Brown added."I had to tell my kids (who are aged 5 and 7) that he made new friends in the woods. I didn't want to get into what the other options were."

The rest of July, all of August and most of September had passed, and there were no signs of Louie. It wasn't until Sept. 19 when Brown was contacted by the family who now lives in their old Blueberry Hill residence, stating that Louie had shown up on their front door.

In total, Louie was missing for 54 days, and traveled a distance of approximately 2.5 miles, Brown said.

Louie had a history of leaving the old home for a few days, but always managed to find his way back, according to Brown. When a friend of the family brought Louie back home, Brown and her children were pleasantly stunned.

"I couldn't believe it," she said."I cried when she texted me. My daughter recognized him right away. My son didn't want to believe it because he didn't have his collar on, but I said 'Yep, it must have gotten lost on the way.' It took him a while to believe it."

Brown knew that Louie was tough, but never thought he was capable of this.

"You hear of dogs doing this stuff, but never cats," Brown added."I've had friends who have lost cats, and I had a feeling that he was just lost. I'm not surprised he's alive, I'm just surprised he found his way back."

Images via Dafna Brown