Acat who was assumed dead after being swept away by Hurricane Helene managed to find his way back home.
On September 27, Nancy Collins and her family were preparing to leave their property in Burnsville, North Carolina, because of rising floodwaters brought on by Hurricane Helene.
However, before she and her son Jonathon left, they spotted their beloved cat Ricardo Blanco in a perilous position: The feline had found his way on top of one of the family campers.
“The water level was already too high to rescue him. The camper Blanco was on top of began floating down the river and hit the next-door neighbor’s house,” Collins told Newsweek.
“Blanco jumped from the roof of the camper to the distribution line onto the house. Jonathon saw Blanco try to climb the metal roof. Blanco managed to make it three-quarters of the way up the roof before sliding down and into the swirling water,” she continued.
“My heart sank. I felt immense sadness at how helpless we were to help him,” Collins said. “Jonathon immediately began running on the high path to try to save him but was stopped dead in his tracks by a power line that fell in front of him.”
Though she prayed for her cat’s safe return, Collins assumed they would likely never see Ricardo Blanco again.
But eight days later, as Jonathon was busy working on the property, he heard a “meow” behind him. Turning around, he found himself face-to-face with “a dirty, wet cat.” Collins said her son “wasn’t positive it was Blanco” at first but fed the stricken feline anyway and texted her to bring more cat food.
When Collins asked him whom the food was for, he sent her a picture of the cat. “I knew it was him,” she said. “I was so excited, with tears of joy and gratitude for Blanco surviving and finding his way back.”
Once reunited with his owners, Ricardo Blanco—so named because “he’s like a little movie actor, so full of life and playful,” Collins said—was taken to the Best Friends Animal Society’s free mobile vet clinic through a nearby shelter. He had spent a considerable amount of time in compromised water and needed a checkup.
Ricardo Blanco was brought to a clinic in Yancey County. The volunteer vets at the clinic looked him over and treated him for an infection in one eye and both ears. They also removed a few ticks, and the feline’s family was able to take him home later that day.
“He’s doing fine, playing and doing all the normal stuff,” Collins said.
Audrey Lodato, a director of regional programs at Best Friends Animal Society, said, “There are so many stories just like that of Ricardo Blanco and his family throughout western North Carolina.”
“By opening a free mobile clinic, Best Friends Animal Society is working to fill a gap for services, providing basic veterinary care to the Western North Carolina community at no cost so that people and their pets can stay together during this difficult time,” Lodato continued.
Collins said she wished Ricardo Blanco could share his story of what happened when he was swept away and how he found his way back. But she’ll settle for having her beloved cat back, saying, “He is an amazing survivor, and we appreciate him even more for the love he unconditionally gives our family every day.”