A cat from Utah is back safe with its owners after a frightening journey to California in an Amazon returns package. Carrie Clark says their indoor kitty Galena vanished from their home on April 10, and a frantic search ensued throughout their neighborhood for the next week, reports KSL. "The anxiety and stress of not knowing what happened to her was excruciating," Clark says. Then, "I got a call that changed everything," she posted to Facebook, per KTLA. That call was from a vet in California, more than 600 miles away, telling Clark they'd scanned the microchip for a cat that had been brought in and it was Galena.
"I didn't believe her at first and thought it was a prank," Clark tells KSL. As it turns out, a worker at an Amazon return center named Brandy had opened one of the boxes and discovered Galena stashed away with five pairs of work boots; Brandy dropped Galena off with the vet the next day after caring for it overnight. Clark says she and her husband realized that their cat must've slipped into a big box of returns they'd shipped out. The vet's phone call was the "most amazing, insane news in the entire world," Clark tells the BBC.
Clark and her husband flew to Los Angeles the next day to retrieve Galena, who knew her humans right away. "Galena instantly stopped shaking and relaxed in my arms when I got to hold her again," she tells KSL, noting that the cat was thinner and slightly dehydrated, but otherwise OK. She also attributes Galena's survival to a combination of factors, including Brandy being a rescue cat expert; mild weather conditions that allowed Galena to not be too cold or too hot; and a small slit in the box that gave her air to breathe. Now, Clark offers an important piece of advice for other pet owners: "Triple-check your Amazon boxes!" (More cats stories.)
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