Jessie the cat’s amazing 1,900mi journey home to her brother; the real story

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By Karen Harrison Binette

They always had to be close to one another

You may remember the recent story Cat Walks 1900 Miles Back To Her Old Home, about the Australian cat Jessie who traversed an enormous distamce to return to her old home. Her remarkable story is yet more amazing that we originally thought, and more so than was reported elsewhere.

Sheree Gale and Jenn Humby, know the full story and agreed to share it with us here. Sheree was Jessie and Jack’s original petmom. Jenn is their petmom today. Jessie was not just homesick when she made her journey … she was homesick for the brother she’d been inseparable from until his disappearance before she and her family moved. She set out on her own to return to her brother.

Jack (left) and Jessie (right) in a favourite hiding place. 4 months old

Guest post by Sheree Gale and Jenn Humby.

Jessie is a ten year old tabby cat whose bond with her brother Jack has proven too strong even for the vast distances and harsh environment of the Australian outback. Jack had gone missing for several months around the time of their owners move from a farmhouse in Ungarra in South Australia to a property near Darwin in the Top End of Northern Territory, a distance of more than 3000 km.

The owners sadly presumed Jack dead and Jessie was flown up alone to their new home. Shortly after the move Jessie disappeared. After much searching she too was sadly presumed dead. A new family had since moved into the South Australian home and much to everyone’s amazement three months later Jack reappeared at the farmhouse door. Jack was back and while his original owners miss him very much they knew that Jack would want to stay on the farm. Arrangements were made with the new family living in the house and Jack is happily being cared for by the new family.

But the story doesn’t end there.

Jessie

Amazingly, fifteen months after Jessie was last seen at her new home in the Northern Territory she was discovered with her brother Jack back at the farmhouse in South Australia! Jessie has somehow travelled the 3000 km distance back to the farmhouse where she and Jack grew up and are together again.

This remarkable tale of survival, instinct and the unbreakable bond between two animals is like no other. Jessie’s courage, strength and bond with her brother is truly remarkable. The owners are overjoyed that Jessie and Jack are both alive and well and that they are happily together again. The new family in the farmhouse are now caring for both cats as this is where they obviously both want to be. The two families are now good friends and regularly share photographs and stories of the cats.

But how did Jessie do it? No one will ever really know; but if she walked some or all of the journey Mother Nature was on her side that year. In 2009, the year before Jessie began her journey, floods turned the normally red Australian desert green. When Jessie set off in 2010 the floods continued and have been reported as a once in a lifetime event by environmentalists. The Bureau of Meterorology (2011) reports that unusually high rainfalls occurred in both the Northern Territory and South Australia with 2010 being the 3rd wettest year on record for those regions. In addition in 2010, May to October, considered to be Northern Australia’s dry season, was the wettest dry season on record (Bureau of Meteorology 2011). The floods created an explosion of insects, mammals, and fish and were closely followed by mice and locust plagues. If Jessie was ever going to make the journey back, this was the year she had the greatest chance. However she did it her story is extraordinary. The fact that a cat has travelled 3000 km and found her way back to her brother and her old home is truly incredible.

Sheree Gale and Jenn Humby co-admin a Facebook page that celebrates Jessie’s journey and the bond between the two cats, Jessie the cat’s amazing 3000km journey home to her brother.

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0 thoughts on “Jessie the cat’s amazing 1,900mi journey home to her brother; the real story”

  1. So nice to hear this story and I really love that the two cats Jessie and Jack are back with each other again. Very amazing story.

  2. Lucky they didnt live in China or Korea or some other Asian country, very likely Jessie and Jack would have been captured, skinned alive, boiled alive and eaten!
    sorry people…..just trying to let people know the
    brutality that is going on, and hoping for a miracle to end these horrors. Lovely story.

  3. Hello Mary.
    There are also animal lovers and advocate in those countries. Things are changing for the better (for the most part), though there is far to go.

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