Phillip Bock

The Sheboygan (Wis.) Press

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Nadia the cat took an extended vacation to the Sunshine State but left her owners at home in the snow.

The 2-year-old Russian blue escaped Christmas Eve from Cheri Stocker's here, showing up last week almost 1,500 miles south in Naples, Fla.

"I think the last time we were in Florida was 10 or 12 years ago," Stocker said. "This year I'm not going on vacation, so we must have sent our cat on vacation instead."

Stocker and her husband adopted the cat about nine months ago, renaming her Nadia. The cat was happy inside until a gusty Christmas Eve.

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"Our back door blew open and before I realized it, she had slipped out the door," Stocker said. "She had never been outside. I tried to catch her and told the neighbors, but she never turned up."

The Stockers thought the cat had not survived the winter until Feb. 22 when an animal shelter called and said someone had found Nadia — in southwest Florida.

"It snowed right after Christmas, and being an inside cat, we thought the worst. Then it turned bitter cold," Stocker said.

Workers at a shelter discovered that the cat had a microchip and through a pet location service called Stocker's sister, who was listed as an emergency contact. It had been 60 days since Nadia scooted out the door.

Stocker was shocked. She asked shelter employees to send photos as proof.

"It was unbelievable," she said. "I called my husband and said, 'You're not going to believe this.' "

As news about Nadia spread, volunteers stepped up to help return the cat to Sheboygan. Flight attendants with Allegiant Air offered to fly her, and the Stockers picked up the cat two days later in Rockford, Ill.

"Everything fell into place. It was just amazing," Stocker said. "She had never traveled before, so she had made quite a journey."

The first thing Nadia did when she got home was fall asleep on the couch. Stocker said the cat seems about 2 pounds lighter but otherwise in good health.

"My husband picked her up first, and I think she recognized us," Stocker said. "She nuzzled right into his neck."

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How Nadia hightailed it to Florida — and where she spent the past two months — remains a mystery.

"There are a few businesses and a truck stop near (our home). We think maybe she got into a trailer," Stocker said. "With the snow, maybe she burrowed into snow on a pallet and was loaded into a truck."

Follow Phillip Bock on Twitter: @bockling

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