When Gunnlaugur the cat disappeared from his home in Hofsós, North Iceland, his owners thought he was simply out hunting, as usual. When he failed to return for several days, they began to get worried. After two months, when they had found no sign of him, they gave up their search. Then, four months after he had left home, Gunnlaugur showed up in Varmahlíð, around 50km (31mi) away.
“We had given up on finding him. So we went and got kittens,” Freyja Amble Gísladóttir told Vísir. Freyja’s boyfriend has owned Gunnlaugur for eight years. The sad story took a happier twist yesterday morning. “I woke up and my boyfriend, who owns Gunnlaugur, had seen a post on Facebook about a lost cat. Our veterinarian had shared it. And my boyfriend says to me: ‘I think Gunnlaugur’s been found.’”
Indeed, that turned out to be the case. As to how the adventurous feline made it so far from home, Freyja says they suspect he hitched a ride, perhaps unintentionally. Gunnlaugur returned home in perfect health – perhaps even better than when he left. “He was slightly too fat when he left us but he’s in great shape now,” Freyja stated. “And he is especially happy to be home. But of course it’s unbelievable. We would have never found him if people hadn’t posted online.”
Though he is happy to be home, Gunnlaugur was less than thrilled to find some furry intruders when he arrived – he has yet to take to the new kittens. “He went halfway out to the gate with the kittens and was going to get rid of them,” Freyja says. “But I think he’ll calm down and get used to them.”
