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A Well-Traveled Cat!

Galena the cat jumped into a shipping box and ended up taking an unexpected journey.

A cat stands on a wood floor and looks at the camera with a toy behind her.
Carrie Clark
Galena the cat made a multi-day journey in an Amazon shipping box.

A cat named Galena is back with her family after taking an unexpected journey in an Amazon shipping box.

Galena, a 6-year-old housecat who lives with her family in Utah, disappeared on April 10. Her owner, Carrie Clark, looked everywhere for her. When she and her husband couldn’t find Galena in the house, they posted “lost cat” notices in their neighborhood and online. Clark says Galena is a special member of the family who’s always there when Clark needs her.

“She just has this extra great part about her personality that’s very loving. And she can tell when you don’t feel well,” Clark told the Associated Press. “And she’s just really, really special to me.”

Two women pose with one holding a cat in a towel and an Amazon shipping box contains shoeboxes.
Carrie Clark; Brandy Hunter
Carrie Clark (left) with Brandy Hunter, who took care of Galena after she was found in an Amazon shipping box.

About a week later and many miles away, in California, workers at an Amazon warehouse got a big surprise when they found Galena in a cardboard box. The box also contained some boots. Clark’s husband had put the boots in the box to return them to Amazon. But he didn’t close the box right away. At some point Galena, who loves cardboard, jumped into the box. Clark’s husband closed the box and sent it to Amazon without realizing the cat was inside.

After they discovered Galena, the Amazon warehouse workers called a co-worker named Brandy Hunter, who has rescued many cats. Hunter took Galena to the vet. The little cat was dehydrated, meaning she hadn’t had water in a long time. But she was going to be okay. Luckily, Galena has a microchip, a tiny device that has been placed under her skin and contains information about how to contact her owner. The vet spoke with Clark, who was relieved to hear that Galena had been found.

Side by side of a woman holding a cat and a closeup of the cat.
Carrie Clark

Carrie Clark poses with Galena after bringing her beloved cat home.

Clark spoke with Hunter, too, who assured her that Galena was being cared for. Clark and her husband boarded a plane to California and brought Galena home right away.

Clark says Galena is a quiet cat. That’s why she didn’t meow when she was stuck inside the box. It’s a good idea to double-check any box you plan to ship, Clark says. Just in case.

Fun Fact Icon

Fun Fact

In 2023, Amazon delivered about 5.9 billion packages in the United States!
Amazon boxes pile up over a map of the United States.
© notviper–iStock/Getty Images, © Topgeek/Dreamstime.com; Animation Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Animal Myths!

Three mice stand on a counter looking at a piece of cheese and one of them asks if it’s all there is for dinner.

© Dmytro Bilyk, Ilya Bolotov, Pichayasri/Dreamstime.com; Composite illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Have you ever heard that cats purr only when they’re happy? That’s a myth—something that’s widely believed but not true. Cats often purr when they’re happy, but they may also purr when they’re unhappy, hungry, or injured.

Here are some other animal myths!

  • Mice love cheese. Mice do like cheese, but they’d rather eat sweet food.
  • All bees die after they sting once. Honeybees die after a single sting, but other bee species can sting more than once.
  • Anteaters suck up ants through their noses. Anteaters actually use their tongues to lap up ants. Yummy!
  • Turkeys can’t fly. Turkeys can fly at speeds of up to 55 miles per hour (88 kilometers per hour), but they don’t usually fly more than 300 feet (90 meters) at a time.
  • Dogs see in black and white. Dogs can’t see all the colors humans can, but they can see yellow, blue, and gray.

The Cat’s Meow

Seven kittens of different breeds against a white background.
© Andrey Kuzmin/stock.adobe.com

Meow! If your cat is meowing, it’s probably trying to get your attention. Experts think cats meow to communicate with humans, but not other cats. Feral cats (cats that don’t live with humans) make noises to communicate with other cats, but they don’t meow nearly as much.

Want to know more about cats? You can read all about them at Britannica!

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Word of the Day

reunite

Part of speech:

verb

Definition:
: to be together again after being apart for a long time
Definitions provided by
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