Cat slips out of camper van in Spain during family vacation, goes missing & returns home to France
A cat named Filou is believed to have travelled up to 250km across Spain and France to reunite with his owners after going missing for about five months.
The 10-year-old cat disappeared on the evening of 9 Aug 2025 after slipping out of his owners’ camper van while they were refuelling at a motorway service area in Maçanet de la Selva, between Barcelona and Girona, Spain.
Source: @LMPositif on X
Patrick and Evelyne Sire were on their way home to France after a long holiday at the mouth of the Ebro River.
The couple only realised Filou was missing the next morning. They returned immediately to the rest area, but he was nowhere to be found.
Makes multiple trips back to Spain to look for cat
According to French publication L’Independant, Mr and Mrs Sire travelled back to Spain multiple times in a desperate bid to find Filou.
They combed the area around the service station, searched nearby natural areas and abandoned buildings, distributed photos, and lodged a missing-pet report with the Civil Guard.
They were also put in touch with a local animal protection association, which stayed in contact with them in the months that followed.
Despite repeated searches and several reported sightings of similar-looking cats, Filou remained elusive.
Source: Patrick Sire via Franceinfo
Mr Sire said he continued to cling to a sliver of hope, while Mrs Sire gradually came to terms with the possibility that their beloved cat might never return.
Found 5 months later by resident in nearby French village
By early January, the couple had decided to adopt another cat. What they did not realise was that a reunion with Filou was already on the cards.
On 9 Jan, they were approached by a resident from Homps, a village near their home in Olonzac, who believed she had found their missing cat.
The woman said she had been feeding a very thin and weakened cat for about a month after finding him “skin and bones”.
After he developed a persistent cough, she brought him to a veterinarian on 8 Jan. When his microchip was scanned, it revealed the address of his owners in Olonzac, leading to the long-awaited reunion the following day.
His owners remain baffled by how Filou managed to make the journey home. Mapping estimates show that about 210km separate the two locations in a straight line, while the overall distance is believed to be around 250km.
“Did he follow the highway? Did he go through towns? Did he follow the rivers? We’ll never know,” Mr Sire said in an interview with French media.
Also read: Cat in US travels over 1,500km to return home after going missing for 2 months
Cat in US travels over 1,500km to return home after going missing for 2 months
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Featured image adapted from @LMPositif on X and Franceinfo.
