Cat survives maritime misadventure

After disappearing for almost three weeks, the cat came back. Sort of.

Miso, an eight-year-old long-haired female cat, went missing from her North Shore home on August 1 and was assumed dead.

“She went for a walk and never came home,” Bart Reiding, Miso’s owner told Global News. While the feline had a tendency to wander, Reiding says she always returned. When Miso still wasn’t home after several days, he assumed she was dead.

But then this morning a call came from Jim Wilkins saying he found Miso’s identification collar on his boat, which was moored at a North Shore marina.

Still believing the worst, Reiding thought they’d be finding Miso’s body when he joined Wilkins to search the 1957 Chris Craft Constellation boat.

As soon as the pair got onboard the 42-foot Woodhaven, Reiding started calling Miso’s name and to their surprise, she answered.

“I said her name and it was a loud bellowing meow,” Reiding laughs. They ended up finding Miso, who was a few pounds lighter, in the boat’s bilge.

WATCH: The moment Miso is reunited with her owner (courtesy of Jim Wilkins)

Wilkins figures Miso got onto the boat when it was out of the water for repairs and became trapped for about two weeks when the craft was put back into the water.

“The hatches were all open when it was out of the water and that’s when we think Miso got onboard because when the boat was put back in the water, the hatches were all closed.”

Both men are unsure how the cat survived for two weeks on the boat during hot weather and without any fresh water.

Mystery or not, Reiding is just happy to have his curious cat back.

“She’s a rescue cat and I’ve had her for seven years… I was thinking she was dead and I’m so happy to have found her. She’s my best girl.”

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It’s the best possible outcome for both man and animal.

“I’m an animal lover, so it was a nice ending for both of us,” Wilkins says. “I dreaded the other story it could have been.”