Cat to return home after cross country journey in back of U-Haul

They say cats have nine lives, but this one may have even more than that.

Kevin, an orange tabby cat, traveled more than 22 hundred miles from South Carolina in the back of a U-Haul trailer. He went unnoticed until he reached the California-Arizona border. That’s when a food and agriculture inspector opened the back of the trailer and heard his meow.

The woman driving the trailer said she had no idea who Kevin belonged to. However, she knew he did not belong to her.

Emily Huffman of the Coachella Valley Animal Campus cared for Kevin since he arrived at the shelter.

“I”ve never seen anything like this. This is definitely a first for us,” said Huffman.

According to Huffman, the cat was a little thin when he arrived at the shelter leading them to believe he made the whole journey without food or water. But, nonetheless, his spirits are good.

“His attitude is great and you could never guess that he has traveled across the country or been through any sort of trials in his life,” she added.

When Kevin arrived at the shelter, they called his owner to learn she hadn’t seen him in over a year.

“My first instinct was how in the gods name did he get to California,” said Cheryl Walls of Anderson, South Carolina.

Kevin’s microchip is the reason they could trace him back to his owner. Walls tells us she had a special attachment to the cat because he shares a name with her late fiance.

“It was shortly after Kevin passed away and then when we went into the animal shelter it was so ironic or coincidental that we picked out one of the cats and his name was Kevin,” explained Walls.

With the help of two non-profit organizations — Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team and Animal Solutions Konnection — and some of the shelter volunteers, they’re getting ready to send Kevin back home. He is scheduled to depart from Palm Springs International Airport Wednesday at 8:20 am.