A beloved pet cat who went missing in the South Australian outback while on a road trip with his owner has been miraculously returned to his family.
Murray Rantall was travelling from Warnambool, Victoria, to Darwin in a caravan in June when he made a pit stop on the Stuart Hwy for his Burmese cat, Raj, to go use the litter box in the caravan.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cat reunited with owner months after going missing on road trip.
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Rantall went for a walk, came back and assumed 14-year-old Raj was still inside, so he drove off.
About 200km down the road at Glendambo, Rantall went to check on Raj but found he wasn’t in the caravan.
“I was just about balling … I knew he was in trouble,” Rantall said.
Rantall turned back to search for Raj but couldn’t find him. His daughter, Katrina, also drove from Victoria to South Australia to help find the cat, but had no luck.
The Victorian family had lost of all hope of finding him, but Rantall’s children put up Facebook posts about Raj missing in the South Australian outback in case anyone found him on their travels.
About two months after he’d gone missing, Raj was found in Port Augusta, about 50km from where he ran away.
He was seen in Milla Dey’s backyard on Thursday, August 8.
“I just saw that he was there and covered in prickles. We got him some food and water and he spent probably 15 to 20 minutes just eating,” Dey said.
Raj was taken to a local vet to scan the cat’s microchip, but the details were outdated.
Locals in Port Augusta managed to track down the Rantall’s family on social media after seeing posts about Raj missing from earlier this year.
Rantall had an emotional reunion with Raj at a Port Augusta vet over the weekend.
Rantall said Raj had lost a lot of weight but was content to be back in his arms.
“We’ll feed him up, he’ll be all right ,” Rantall said.
It’s been a difficult past year for Rantall. He lost his wife recently, and said Raj was the only loved one he had left at home.
“We were sort of looking after each other more or less,” Rantall said.
Port Augusta City Council animal control officer Kylie McKerlie said the reunion was thanks to the care and dedication of the local community.
“It’s just a really good town and a really good feeling for everyone,” she said.
Rantall said he was very grateful to all those who helped.
“It’s unbelievable, the help I’ve had,” he said.
-With Ashlea Kunowski
