- Remember to microchip your pets and check your deliveries for cats.
The disappearance of your beloved pet is always a nerve-wracking affair. Fortunately, the story does sometimes have a happy ending when the wayward animal returns home safe and sound.
The adventure of one Utah family’s cat ended on just such a positive note. That said, the kitty’s owners could have never believed how far their cat got, or how she got there.
Galena the Housecat traveled all the way to California — in an Amazon box.
The sneaky feline managed to sneak into an oversized box containing return merchandise without her owners noticing. They sealed and shipped the box away, not knowing that Galena was still inside.
For the next week, she traveled through the Amazon network. She had no food or water, but luckily a tear in the box’s corner kept Galena from suffocating.
Eventually, an Amazon warehouse worker realized there was something unusual lurking in the box. She pulled Galena out and took her to a veterinarian.
The vet found a microchip on the kitty and called her owners. Cue a happy reunion a couple of days later.
‘Excruciating’ Stress
Galena is a kitty cat that belongs to the Clark family of Salt Lake City, Utah. She’s a tidy indoor cat, so the family usually knows where she is — barring the occasional cat mischief, of course.
Imagine their surprise, then, when Galena vanished into thin air on April 10.
Where could she have gone? Had the call of the great outdoors gotten too loud for her to resist?
Naturally, that’s what the Clarks thought. They began looking for the cat around their neighborhood, plastering “Missing Cat” posters all over the place and asking neighbors if they’d seen Galena.
Yet, despite a week’s efforts, the family found no trace of their dear cat. The uncertainty of what had happened to her began to take a toll on their nerves.
“Galena is a huge emotional support to me and has helped me get through many health challenges over the past six years,” Carrie Clark told KSL TV.
“The anxiety and stress of not knowing what happened to her was excruciating,” she added.
She Fits, She Sits
We’re sure Galena would’ve liked to let her family know that he was doing relatively fine, but there’s no way she could. After all, she wasn’t even in Utah anymore while the Clarks were looking for her.
Shortly before her disappearance, the Clarks had purchased a bunch of boots from Amazon on a “try before you buy” deal. Not all the footwear fit their intended wearers, so the Clarks shipped them back in an oversized box.
And you know how cats are around cardboard boxes. If they fit, they will sit — and sometimes even without fitting.
Galena, however, fit perfectly well into the box of boots. So well, in fact, that the Clarks didn’t realize she was in when they taped the box shut and handed it over to Amazon.
And so began Galena’s bizarre adventure. For the next seven days, she moved across every step of the Amazon network.
You have to hand it to Amazon staff, they must’ve handled the box with care since Galena eventually emerged without any injuries. One of the box’s corners did get ripped, but that was a stroke of luck for Galena, as the hole allowed fresh air into the box.
Still, she had no water or food. Trapped in her cardboard coffin, she drifted through the delivery system until she arrived in an Amazon warehouse in Los Angeles, California — 600 miles from home.
An Unbelievable Phone Call
Galena’s rescue finally came at that warehouse. A staff member at the facility, named in media only as Brandy, realized there was something in the box that shouldn’t be there.
She probably didn’t expect it to be a cat, but that’s what she pulled out. Not knowing why Galena was in the box or where she had come from, Brandy looked after the thirsty and hungry kitty before dropping her off at a vet the following day.
Galena is lucky to have responsible (if slightly absent-minded) owners, as they had microchipped her. The vet was able to recover the Clarks’ contact into and gave them a call.
“I didn’t believe her at first and thought it was a prank,” admitted Clark.
Yet, the vet insisted that Galena was at her office. She even put the Clarks in touch with Brandy and the entire strange story unfolded.
“[Brandy] was so relieved to find out that we love Galena and were desperately looking for her,” Clark said.
She and her husband booked a flight to Los Angeles for the very next day. They packed Galena’s pink carrier, food, treats, and some towels for comfort.
As soon as the Clarks walked into the vet’s office, Galena recognized their voice and turned into a purring little furball.
“It was an amazing reunion! Galena instantly stopped shaking and relaxed in my arms when I got to hold her again,” recalled Clark.
She was skinnier than before and a bit dehydrated, but otherwise, Galena came out of her adventure no worse for wear. That was partly thanks to the ideal weather over the week that kept her comfortably warm but not too hot.
Now, Galena is happily back home. We bet the Clarks will be triple-checking any boxes they mail out from now on.