the cat came back

My favorites from a chapter of The Book of Lists.

1. SUGAR - 1,500 miles
Sugar, a two-year-old part-Persian, had a hip deformity, which made her uncomfortable during car travel. Consequently, she was left behind with a neighbor when her family left Anderson, California, for Gage, Oklahoma. Two weeks later, Sugar disappeared. Fourteen months later, she turned up in Gage on her owner's doorstep - having traveled 100 miles a month to reach a place she had never been. The case was insvestigated in person by the famous parapsychologist J. B. Rhine....

In the book these are arranged by distance, so Murka, who should come in first for style, is

8. MURKA - 400 miles
In 1987 Murka, a stray tortoiseshell, was adopted by Vladamir Donsov in Moscow. Murka killed his canary; a year later, she unlocked the bird cage and killed another one. She was banished to live with Mr. Donsov's mother in Voronezh, but disappeared after two years. A year later, on October 1989, Mr. Donsov found her in his Moscow apartment building, hungry, dirty, pregnant, and missing the tip of her tail. She ate a large meal and slept for three days.

Image forthcoming.