Kuzya Come Home! Cat Travels 2,150 Miles Home

by Joel Hendon⁽⁹¹⁾
http://hebronics.org/index.html

I don't know how many people of today can remember the first Lassie movie which came out in somewhere around 1945. "Lassie Come Home", a real tear jerker if you were a dog loving 15 year old. It was the first movie in which I actually cried when I watched it with two classmates. One of them also cried and the other made fun of both of us. But this is not about Lassie, this is about Kuzya.

Kuzya is a rugged, two year old male cat of no particular breed I don't reckon, because it was never mentioned. He was the family cat of a Russian family named Efremov who resides in the small village of Olenyok in Eastern Russia. Olenyok village is located on the River Olenyok. That seems logical.

Cats as well as dogs, have been known to return home from distances of several hundred miles when lost or deserted by their families. But on the other hand, I have known of many dogs owned by hunters, who, after a long running hunt, could not find their way back to the pick-up truck or to their homes. I've known of hunters who would go back into the woods the next day and search diligently for their dog(s).

But, the family of Efremovs had to make a journey to Yakutz, capital city in Yakutia Republic approximately 2,150 miles from their home in Olenyok. They were there for a several days and while there Kuzya, apparently unhappy with the new residence in a city, strayed away. The family enlisted whomever they could to help find the cat but to no avail.

When time came to return home they were saddened to think of leaving Kuzya behind but they had no choice, having exhausted their search parameters.

Three months after they returned home, Kuzya appeared at their front door, bedraggled, shabby, skinny and frightened. The family reported that he had even become "untamed". His claws were worn off due to the long walk and his tail showed imprints of some type animal bite. They also said his disposition was changed in that he is extremely precautious and walks stealthily, keeping an eye out and ears open for hidden dangers. He also sneaks away and hides a lot.

In cases like this which seem beyond comprehension, one can only imagine what the animal actually encountered and overcame. Between the two points of his journey lies miles of Siberian woodlands, rivers, hills, lakes and innumerable other obstacles, plus the likely encountering of dogs, wild predatory animals and so on. But the most bewildering part of it all is how they have the instinctive ability to travel such a distance with no recognizable landmarks, back to their home. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1).

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Article submitted Tuesday, April 28, 2009 & read 1517 times.

Leave your comments through My Pet Tale:

» left by Jane Bullard (2 years 285 days ago.)

Dear Joel, thanks for sharing this remarkable story and telling it so well! Outstanding narrative flow and descriptive writing style that anyone would be glad to come close to matching!
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» left by Joel Hendon (2 years 285 days ago.)

Hi Jane, what a nice comment. I really appreciate it. Being an animal lover, it really inspires me when I read of such as this. Thanks again for the nice comment.

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» left by Lorrie Davids⁽⁶⁶³⁾ (2 years 285 days ago.)

What a great story, Joel. How amazing that Kuzya found his way home. So often, there is no happy ending for animals who are lost. Thanks for writing!
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» left by Joel Hendon (2 years 285 days ago.)

Hi Lorrie, yes, eventhough you feel very sorry for the anmalwho had to endure such, it is a wonderful relief to know he got back home! I wish you could have seen "Lassie Come Home."

Thanks for the comment.

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» left by Arunas Petkevicius from Mallorca, Spain (2 years 261 days ago.)

Do you think would be a good idea to find that family and offer them a little help for their feline friend? I bet she deserved all our attention with her heroic adventure. Very inspiring! Please, let me know if it is possible to locate that family.Thanks!
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» left by Joel Hendon (2 years 261 days ago.)

Thanks for your comment, I have no idea how you might locate them. I got most of my information from the Russian Newspaper Pravda, and found another account of it somewhere which I cannot now recall. You might inquire of the editors of Pravda, though I kindly doubt they would bother with helping. Also, I imagine the cat and the family have been inundated with well wishes from their neighbors and other countrymen. Here is a verse taken from the account:

"The cat lived with the family of the Efremovs in the small village of Olenyok."

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