Two Months After Disappearing, Rayne Beau the Cat Is Found Near Home — Over 800 Miles Away
Rayne Beau's parents say his story is a reminder of the importance of microchipping your pets.
Published Sept. 20 2024, 11:43 a.m. ET
One California couple is celebrating after being reunited with their beloved cat, Rayne Beau (pronounced: rainbow), who vanished during camping trip in Yellowstone National Park. After spending most of their remaining vacation searching for their fur baby, the pair had given up hope of ever finding him and returned home, which is where they were tearfully reunited with the kitty who had made his way almost back home.
The elated couple decided to share Rayne Beau's story for two reasons. First, in the hope that it prompts more people to microchip their pets, helping to ensure that pet parents can be reunited with their beloved four-legged family members if they ever go missing. And second, so they can get some answers about what really happened while Rayne Beau was missing.
You can read more about Rayne Beau's story below.
Rayne Beau vanished while camping with his humans in Yellowstone National Park.
Susanne and Benny Anguiano were enjoying a peaceful camping trip with Rayne Beau, when something spooked the kitty, and sent him fleeing into the tree line. He quickly vanished from sight, before the Anguianos realized what was happening.
The fraught moment turned into days of worry when the cat didn't immediately return to the campsite, according to NBC News affiliate KSBW Action News 8, prompting the couple to spend the remainder of their vacation desperately searching for the kitty.
When they were unable to find him — the cat couldn't even be lured back to the campsite by a trail of treats or his favorite toys — they were forced to make the heartbreaking decision to decamp without him and head back home.
“We had to leave without him,” the couple recounted to KSBW. “That was the hardest day because I felt like I was abandoning him.”
Still, the duo didn't give up hope right away, since they saw what seemed like a sign as they were pulling out to head home. “We were driving along and out of nowhere, these double rainbows appear, and it just knit it all together for me,” Rayne Beau's mom said of the colorful display the cat was named after while speaking with KSBW.
Rayne Beau was gone for 60 days before being reunited with his pet parents.
Everything changed for the couple two months later, when they received an update about Rayne Beau from an unlikely source. PetWatch messaged the pair to notify them that the cat's microchip had been accessed, and that Rayne Beau had been located in Roseville, Calif. where he had been surrendered to the SPCA — more than 800 miles away from where he originally vanished.
Apparently, a good Samaritan had rescued the cat from the street and took him to the facility in the hopes he could be reunited with his family. But, the happy ending almost turned sad, when the Anguianos arrived and saw just how thin their cat had gotten.
“He was really depleted,” they shared. “He probably didn’t have a lot of energy to even go further.” According to NBC News, Rayne Beau had weighed 14 pounds at the start of his adventure, but by the time he returned home he was down to 8 pounds.
In the end, Rayne Beau's parents hope his story serves as a reminder of the importance of microchipping your pets, since they don't think they ever would've seen him again without the service.
In fact, the Anguianos have taken things a step further, and gotten their beloved kitty a global tracker ahead of going on their next big camping adventure.
Because, despite the traumatic events of their Yellowstone trip, the trio — and the Anguianos' other cats — plan to eventually hit the road together again. Although next time, the couple plans to keep a much closer eye on their pets.
