Cat found at Mouse Island after 3 months missing

After three months on the run, the cat finally came back.

A couple from Newfoundland and Labrador who were travelling to see family in Ontario were heartbroken after losing one of their beloved cats last October before a ferry crossing.

However, thanks to the kindness of strangers,the cat survived months away from home and is now safety back home with itsowners after an unusual twist that broughtthecat througha place actually called Mouse Island.

"I couldn't get him out of the cage fast enough," said Audrey Freeman, recounting for CBC News a reunion that occurred over the weekend.

Freeman and her husband Owen were in Port aux Basques last fall to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia when they made a short stop at aTim Hortons coffee shop.

'Where's Oliver?'

The couple decided to let their cats out of their cages for the ferry crossingsothe animals would have a bit of freedom to move around the van during the sailing.

"We thought, tying them up for two days is too much, so we'll let them loose in the back of the van," said Freeman.

The couple then left their vehicle and boarded the ferry, thinking the cats were still in the car.

When they returned to the van as the ferry docked in Nova Scotia, they realized one was missing.

"When we got out in North Sydney, my husband said "where's Oliver?" she said.

They frantically searched for the cat, even getting Marine Atlantic staff to do a final sweep of the ferry.

Unfortunately, Oliver was nowhere to be seen.

"We were devastatedthere was nothing we could do but just go on," she said.

"We had really, pretty much given up. We both just sat in the car totally stunned because we are cat people. Our children and grandchildren all live away and they're our babies."

Adventure on Mouse Island

It seemed like Oliver was gone forever, and even after going to social media for help, the couple had feared the worst.

He snuggled into us, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world- Audrey Freeman

"All these things go through your mind, like, did he suffer?" she said in an interview.

Then, three months and two days after he had gone missing, Oliver was found.

"So, we were in Quebec, lost in a snowstorm when we get a call from my daughter in Ontario," said Freeman.

"She said, we found Oliver. At that point we're in a blinding snowstorm in Quebec, and I'm crying and my husband is crying."

The couple were surprised to hear that the cat had been in Port aux Basques the whole time, and not North Sydney like they had thought.

Volunteers from Scaredy Cat Rescue, a pet rescue organization in Port aux Basques, had found Oliver wandering the streets and recognized him from the Facebook posts.

"Apparently when he was found he was very thin, he was like the Littlest Hobo," said Freeman.

"He was going from house to house, place to place, and people would feed him and then he was off on another adventure."

Unbelievably, the people who found the cat said he had wandered from the area of the ferry terminal to a place called Mouse Island.

"Apparently there's a little causeway or bridge or something going there," Freeman said.

"So he had travelled quite far."

Oliver returns home

Shortly after the cat was discovered, Audrey Freeman and her husband were finally reunited with their fleeing feline

The couple finally got to see their cat again in a hotel room in Port aux Basques.

"When he came in, I just looked at the cage and the tears were flowing."

According to Freeman, the cat was a bit nervous at first, but quickly settled back into the comfort of a life off of the cold streets on southwest Newfoundland.

"He snuggled into us, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world," she said.

"You have to be an animal lover to appreciate it I guess, you really do."