Alberta's 'adventure cat' moves to Edmonton area

'Gary the Cat' skis, hikes and paddles with owner Gary the popular Alberta adventure cat has just moved into the Edmonton area.

EDMONTON — Known provincewide for his skiing, hiking, and paddle boarding adventures, ‘Gary the Cat’ is moving to the Edmonton area.

James Eastham, Gary’s owner, says the six-year-old housecat has already enjoyed a day paddle boarding on the North Saskatchewan River.

“He loves paddling more than anything. He sits on the front of the boat and sniffs the breeze and often he’ll fall asleep and have a nap while we’re paddling around.”

Gary was adopted from the Calgary Humane Society and learned to love adventure gradually. Eastham says Gary began his adventures with leash training and slowly worked his way up to hikes.

“I do a lot of the hiking, he just kind of sits and takes in the sights,” said Eastham. “He jumps off and walks a little bit and when he’s tired of that he lets me do all the work. It’s a very cat type of behavior.”

The long-haired cat has so far built an impressive social media following. An Instagram account featuring his adventures throughout Alberta has attracted over 400,000 followers.

“It’s a little different than adventuring with a dog, but he’s really happy to be outside and he will sit at the door and cry if we don’t take him out enough,” said Eastham.

To keep up to date on Gary’s Edmonton adventures, you can visit his Instagram page.