A Scottish couple who lost their cat were left “shocked” when it turned up 300 miles away in Coventry.
Beans – a ginger and white cat – went missing late last month after leaving its home in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow.
Its owners Cara and Colin McBurnie searched the local area but found no trace of Beans, leading the couple to fear the worst.
Ms McBurnie said Beans “went out as normal because he likes to go for a wander”, but said it “always comes home for some food, usually after a few hours”.
“We searched and searched, looking everywhere,” the 40-year-old added. “I’ve been out every day looking but thought something must have happened to him.
“I didn’t really expect to see him again but joined lots of local lost and found Facebook pages, then further afield in Scotland.”
Weeks later, the McBurnies received a call from the charity Cats Protection, who said that thanks to its microchip, Beans was found safe in Coventry – hundreds of miles away.
Beans turned up 300 miles away in Coventry weeks after going missing. Pic: PA
Kelly Ryan, who spotted the wayward cat, said she noticed Beans “hanging round” her outdoor litter box.
She said: “I didn’t feed him straight away as I thought he was probably owned, then one night saw him sleeping in the cat box and he was still there the next day, then the one after that.
“I just gave him a few biscuits to start with but heard he was going to visit other neighbours too and it felt like he was around too much and that something wasn’t quite right.”
Ms Ryan posted about the missing cat online and was contacted by Cats Protection, who then reached out to Ms McBurnie.
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The next day, Beans was reunited with its owners. It’s still not known how the cat managed to travel so far.
Ms McBurnie said: “I was shocked out of [my] mind that he was still alive, and how he travelled over 300 miles.”
She added: “I’m so glad we had him microchipped and updated his record. There’s no way he’d have come back to us otherwise.”
