Florida cat escapes animal hospital after neutering, travels 3 miles to get home

George the cat wasn’t having it. 

The feline fugitive decided recently it was time to leave an animal hospital in Lakeland, Florida, while he was still recovering after being neutered. So, he broke out of his crate and scaled a fence.

“I was distraught and heartbroken,” George’s owner, Bob Beasock, told FOX 13. 

Employees at SPCA Florida chased after George, but they weren’t able to catch him. 

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“George was able to bust out of the trap, and he literally scaled some dog fencing and went into the woods. And our staff were literally hoisting each other up over the fences to try to chase George to capture him,” Randa Richter of SPCA Florida told FOX 13, adding he still had “silly drugs in him” after his neutering. 

Days later, George arrived home 3 miles away. 

“If I would’ve gotten stuck at the SPCA, I would’ve called an Uber, but George didn’t have that option,” Beasock joked. “But coming back from there, he has to go through two or three subdivisions. He has to go around the lake, another lake that’s between us and the SPCA, and probably five or six roads.” 

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Certified cat behavioral specialist Joey Lusvardi told the station cats have evolved to find their way back.

“We think it’s due to a combination of scent or visual markers and possibly geomagnetism,” which relates to Earth’s magnetic field, Lusvardi said.

“Contrary to popular belief, cats are very attached to us, so they will want to find their way back home eventually.”

Beasock, while brushing his beloved George, told the station, “He needed a human touch, and that’s what he got.”