WATCH — ‘Never Give Up Hope’: California Cat Reunites with Family 12 Years After Going Missing

A family who previously lived in San Diego, California, has been reunited with their long-lost beloved pet cat.

Butters the cat is finally back in the arms of his owners, identified as Angelo and Shelley Castellino, but the amazing thing about the story is that he was missing for over 12 years, ABC 7 reported Monday.

An image shows the beautiful feline who has had quite an interesting life:

SoCal tabby cat reunited with owners 12 years after running away: 'I thought he was dead' https://t.co/vjFNWxcoMD

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) October 10, 2023

The family adopted Butters while living in San Diego, but the adventurous animal went missing one night in 2011.

Angelo recalled, “We went looking for him, and our assumption was the coyotes got him because there’s a canyon nearby. And we didn’t much think about it after that except that we were sad he was gone.”

A few years later, the couple relocated to Seattle and took along their other cat, who is Butters’ sibling.

The family got a surprising phone call on October 1 from Riverside County Animal Services Officer Dalton Churchwell, of Blythe, California.

Churchwell said that when he found Butters in his backyard, he determined the cat was microchipped and that chip led him to the cat’s family.

“Like the real life movie Homeward Bound. Even looks like the movie cat too!” one social media user commented on the report.

“Never give up hope,” another user said, while someone else replied, “What an amazing story!”

Per the ABC article, the Animal Solutions Konnection charity helped fly Butters home to his family, noting it remains a mystery how the curious cat traveled 216 miles from San Diego to Blythe.

Now, Shelley is urging pet owners to have their animals chipped as an extra safety precaution, stating, “Our prodigal kitty has come home.”

A similar instance happened in July when a family in Wellington, Colorado, was reunited with their cat who somehow journeyed 170 miles from home but was not injured in the process, according to Breitbart News.