A northern California couple has been reunited with their lost cat Rayne Beau, pronounced “rainbow,” two months after the pet became frightened and ran off during a visit to the Yellowstone National Park.
Benny and Susanne Anguiano visited Yellowstone’s Fishing Bridge RV Park on June 4 with their two cats who had never been to a forest before. Soon after arriving, Rayne Beau ran off after becoming scared, according to the couple.
“It was a very ugly feeling after we lost him,” Benny told The Associated Press. “We’ll have to practice camping at home and camp in the driveway to get him used to it.”
The Anguiano’s, who live in Salinas, Monterey County, said they looked for Rayne Beau for four days, rattling his favorite toys and treats in hopes he would return to their campsite. But their attempts were unsuccessful.
The couple ultimately left for home June 8 without their beloved cat but saw hopeful signs he was okay during their trip back.
“We were entering the Nevada desert and all of a sudden, I see a double rainbow. And I took a picture of it and I thought, that’s a sign. That’s a sign for our rainbow that he’s going to be okay,” Susanne said.
To their surprise, a microchip company contacted the Anguianos’s in August to let them know that Rayne Beau was safe and at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Roseville, California, which is nearly 900 miles from Yellowstone and about 200 miles from the couple’s Salinas home.
Ranye Beau wound up at the shelter after being fed and briefly cared for by a woman who noticed him wandering the streets. She had retrieved him from the streets on Aug. 3 and took him to her local SPCA shelter, according to the couple.
On Aug. 4, the Anguiano’s drove to Roseville where they were reunited with Rayne Beau who they say had lost about 6 pounds, likely from a long trek through Yellowstone.
“I believe truly that he made that trek mostly on his own. His paws were really beat up. Lost 40 percent of his body weight, had really low protein levels because of inadequate nutrition. So he was not cared for,” Susanne said.
It’s unclear if Rayne Beau made the trip on his own or not, which is why the Anguiano’s decided to share their story—now having been interviewed by multiple television stations—hoping to learn more of his trek from any strangers that he might have met along the way.
Both cats have since been outfitted with air tags and Rayne Beau with a GPS global tracker, although traveling plans for the two cats aren’t likely for a little while, the couple said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.