Seven-year-old Pus was known to his owners in the Norwegian city of Ålesund as a couch potato, who hardly ever left his home. When he suddenly disappeared in early June, his owners initiated a search operation that involved asking neighbors and posting photographs on a Facebook page for missing animals, Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported.
"We were rummaging roadside and the ditches. We hung announcements, asked the neighbors to check their garages, but no one had seen Pus," owner Grete Hove explained.
When she began reconciling herself with the death of her beloved pet, Pus was miraculously found in Iceland. An Icelandic family in the neighborhood was going back to Iceland and was in the process of emptying their house. The four-legged adventurer managed to sneak into a furniture container unnoticed and survived a shipment by boat. When Aldis Gunnarsdóttir and Baldvin Johnsen opened the container back in Iceland after two weeks, they immediately noticed cat hair everywhere. Pus looked terrified, was emaciated and had lost a lot of hair, but was alive.
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Gunnarsdóttir had posted an announcement on Facebook and quickly had her suspicions confirmed. It was their former neighbor's cat. In a matter of several days, during which Pus was fed Icelandic ham, he was back in Norway.
"He has bigger eyes and feels lighter to bear. He has had a lot to endure, and the Icelandic veterinary authorities have been very helpful in getting the cat back," owner Frank-Martin Vonheim told NRK, having picked Pus up at Gardermoen Airport in Oslo.
In commemoration of the Icelandic journey, the Norwegian couple wants to give the cat a new name.
"When we were interviewed by Icelandic TV, they thought the cat should have a warrior-like name. They suggested Snorri, a former Icelandic warrior, and we think it's very good," Vonheim said.
The owners don't plan to restrict Snorri, arguing that the perilous journey made him more careful.