‘Who the heck is in my U-Haul?’: Stowaway cat reunited with B.C. family after accidental adventure

A stowaway cat has been reunited with his family on Vancouver Island – after accidentally hitching a ride to Calgary.

A Vancouver Island family is keeping a close eye on their cat, who went on an accidental adventure and was found more than 1,000 kilometres from home hiding in the back of a U-Haul.

Risha Andrews first noticed one of her cats, a three-year-old ragdoll “chonker” named Sherman, was missing last week. She alerted her neighbours in Courtenay via group chat, asking if anyone had seen her pet – who has a tendency to take advantage of open doors to sneak out and go exploring.

“It’s not the first time; it’s definitely the biggest adventure he went on,” Andrews told CTV News.

One of the neighbours who got the message about the missing cat was Michelle McKay. Five minutes later, McKay got a frantic call from her daughter, who had just arrived in Calgary and found Sherman in the moving trailer.

“She was sobbing,” McKay said. “I think she was just upset that he traveled across provinces in the van for two days and he didn’t have food or water, and he was all alone, and it was a scary, dark place.”

McKay immediately called her neighbour to tell her the news.

“I think I kind of screamed a little bit so the whole neighbourhood could hear me. I was like, ‘What? Are you kidding me?’” Andrews recalled.

McKay’s daughter, Sarah Walton, told CTV News she had almost finished unloading her belongings when she found the stowaway.

“I removed this one bag, and I see this little face, this cute little face with these blue eyes. And I was just like, ‘Oh my God, who is that?’” she said.

“I was just like, ‘Who the heck is in my U-Haul?’ And then I looked at everyone, and I was just like, ‘Oh my God, I stole the neighbor’s cat.’”

Walton said she was relieved the cat didn’t bolt, and happy she at least knew where the cat belonged.

“I’m so happy. It could have gone so many different ways,” Walton said.

Luckily, Walton’s grandmother was booked on a flight back to Vancouver Island the next day and agreed to take Sherman with her so he could be reunited with his family – which he was, bringing an end to the impromptu interprovincial journey.

“He’s really happy now. He has not left the house, and he’s been sleeping in my bed every night,” Andrews said.

“And we’re really trying to keep him in.”