Harriet the cat, who went missing in California, found nine years later in Idaho

• Harriet, a cat from California, went missing nine years ago and was found on Sept. 19, 2022, in Idaho.
• Someone found her and dropped her off at a shelter, where she was scanned for a microchip and her owner was contacted.
• Estimated to be about 13 years old, the friendly cat is currently staying at a foster home.

A cat that disappeared nine years ago in California was found in Idaho thanks to a microchip and a couple of good Samaritans.

The cat, a short-haired, tabby-colored domestic housecat named Harriet, previously lived at a California ranch with her owner, when she disappeared nearly a decade ago. On Sept. 19, a couple found her on the side of the road – about 1,000 miles away from her previous home – and took her to a nearby shelter.

The cat was dropped off at the Kootenai Humane Society in Hayden, Idaho, about 90 miles south of the Canadian border, said Development Director Vicky Nelson.

Harriet had a microchip, making it much easier to track down her shocked previous owner.

“We’re always excited when we find a chip,” Nelson told USA TODAY. “The lady (who) was at the front desk called the owner that was listed on the chip, she started talking to her, and the lady was pretty much speechless because she didn’t realize that her cat was still alive.”

Nelson said everyone was shocked Harriet turned up so far away from home.

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Susan Moore, Harriet’s former owner, lives on 41 acres outside of Sanger, California.

In 2010, the family already had dogs, so she decided to get a cat as well.

That’s when Harriet came into her life.

She was just a kitten then, but the shelter told her she was very sick. They thought she had feline leukemia and suggested that she choose another cat.

“I don’t want another cat,” she told them.

So Moore took care of Harriet, giving her medicine twice a day and raising her in her office for the first month of her life.

When she was healthy enough, she moved to the family’s ranch, spending lots of time outdoors with their dogs. She lived there until one night in 2013, she disappeared. 

Then on Sept. 19, Moore got a call from Hayden, Idaho.

“We have your cat,” she recalled the caller telling her.

She has had numerous cats. When they told her they had Harriet, she thought it was impossible.

“My son was 8 years old when she went missing,” she said. “He’s now 17.”

She has also outlived the family’s dogs.

How did she end up so far away, and what was she doing all this time?

Moore thinks Harriet may have sneaked into a horse trailer at the time of her disappearance and been picked up by someone when she got out.

Her husband also considered the possibility that she fell prey to a coyote. She searched everywhere, including at a nearby shelter. 

“I was very distraught,” Moore told USA TODAY. “I just had a very hard time believing she got caught by a coyote. She was very smart.”

Nelson said there has been a rise in people relocating from California to Idaho, so she suspects someone found Harriet when she was out roaming around in California and didn’t check for a chip. From there, they likely moved to Idaho, bringing Harriet with them.

Expert stresses importance of microchips in pets

Nelson said pets turning up safely speaks to how important microchips can be. Typically, people say the microchips look like a grain of rice – that’s how tiny they are.

She said the chips are inserted using needles and are usually placed in the nape of the cat’s neck, where it’s fatty.

“You just kind of grab the skin,” Nelson said. “Typically, they don’t even feel it, which is good. And then when you have a scanner, it scans the information that’s on the chip.”