Lost Michigan Cat Found After Two Years -- in Hawaii

» Get Patch’s daily newsletter and real-time news alerts.

After bumming around Hawaii for almost two years, Bogie the cat is safely at home in Michigan with his family, who had abandoned all hope of finding their beloved pet.

The unlikely reunion occurred after a man who feeds a colony of feral felines near the Honolulu Airport noticed a something distinctive about one of the cats – he looked to be purebred Siamese, which is unusual among feral cats, and he was friendlier and more social than the others.

So Bill Antilla, who volunteers for the CatFriends group that spays and neuters cats on the island of Oahu, investigated and discovered Bogie had been microchipped, KHON-TV reports.

The Hawaii Humane Society took matters from there and tracked down Hillary Sutherland and her family, who moved to St. Clair 19 months ago. Within half an hour, Antilla received a phone call from Sutherland’s daughter.

“She was just ecstatic we found Bogie,” Antilla told the television station.

After a 4,500-mile journey, Bogie arrived at the Detroit Metropolitan International Airport late last week, where he was met by an exuberant Sutherland.

“Hi, you finally made it!” she exclaimed for a segment on WXYZ-TV. “Hi!”

Bogie became separated from Sutherland, her husband and their three children at the Honolulu Airport as baggage handlers were securing the gate on his kennel before putting it in the plane’s cargo area.

“Our agents were working to secure the door of the kennel with plastic ties to ensue Bogie’s safety throughout the flight,” United Airlines spokesman Charles Hobart wrote in a message to KHON-TV. “During this process the cat escaped from his kennel. Our teams searched for the cat and put up posters in the surrounding areas. We are overjoyed that Bogie has been reunited with his owner.”

Sutherland told WXYZ-TV that if it hadn’t been for the microchip, Bogie would have been lost forever.

“It’s lucky for me and for my family he has been microchipped,” she said. “They gave me a call, and here we are.”

_______
Photo via CatFriends Facebook page