The Cat Came Back

It is usually the guy who screws up, and when a small cat who doesn't meow much is packed  away in a 3'x3' Amazon return box weighing 30 pounds with 5 pairs of steel-toed boots and gets shipped from Utah to California to a return center and emerges 5 days later a little dazed, dehydrated, but otherwise okay it was the husband's fault.

Everyone loves a happy pet story, and the one of the cat who took their natural curiosity and managed to get sealed in an Amazon return box went viral as they say.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark developed the theory that the cat jumped in the box when the husband went to get some shipping tape to seal the box. As luck would have it, a seam in the box opened allowing air to circulate, and the mild weather kept the package from being in an overheated space.

A call from a veterinarian came to the Clark's on April 17 informing them their cat was now in California, 500 miles from their house. Huh?

Yep, Amazon opened the return box and out popped, or staggered Galena. Taken to a vet, a chip was found in its ear, and a call was made to the Clark's that their cat was on the West Coast recovering, but otherwise well.

The Clark's flew to California and were reunited with their cat, who seemed to know she was back in familiar hands. Cue the good news story.

For the second in a few months I started to hear the lyrics in my head to the New Christy Minstrels song "The Cat Came Back."

I made the lyrics the subject of  a recent posting when Randy Sparks, the founder of the 60s singing group passed away.

The song is about someone wanted to get rid of a stray cat that was keeping them awake at night and the inventive ways they tried to send the cat away and not come back to haunt them.

Of course the Clarks did not mean for Galena to be sent away, but it is a testament to how an animal can find its way home with a little help from luck and a chip in their ear.

In case you are not familiar with the song, here are the lyrics:

Old Mister Johnson had troubles of his own
He had a yellow cat that wouldn't leave its home
He tried and he tried to give the cat away
He gave it to a man goin' far, far away

But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away
Away, away

Can you make a cat sound?
Meow, meow, meow

So he gave it to a woman going up in an outer space balloon
He told them for to take it to the man up in the moon
The balloon came down about 90 miles away

And where the woman is now, well, I cannot say

But the cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away

Away, away

Is that a cat sound?

Meow, meow, meow, meow

So he gave it to a man going way out West
He told him for to take it to the one he loved the best
First the train hit the curve, then it jumped the rail
And nobody was left to tell the awful tale

But the cat came back the very next day

The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away
Away, away

The cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away

Away, away

Meow, meow, meow

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