Cat escapes vet post-surgery, travels 3 miles home while still under the influence of anesthesia

Would you believe us if we told you someone who had just gone through surgery managed to escape the hospital while still being under the influence of anesthesia? Something similar happened in Lakeland, Florida, except that instead of a human, it was actually a cat who escaped the vet, only to travel three miles and return home.

As per a report by Fox 13, George, the cat, had just been neutered at SPCA Florida, but still, he managed to break out of his cage and disappear into the woods. "He was able to pop that cage open, and he sprang out of there — gone in seconds," Bob Beasock, George's owner, shared, talking about how his cat, still under the influence of anesthesia — a drug commonly used during medical procedures — managed to run from the clinic. Everyone at the hospital, too, tried their level best to stop the feline from escaping, but nothing worked in their favor. "I was distraught and heartbroken," Beasock said, recalling the unfortunate incident. However, thankfully, days after George escaped from the clinic, he, surprisingly, arrived at his residence, once again proving how intelligent animals are. 

"He had to go through two or three subdivisions, around a couple of lakes, and cross five or six roads. If I had been stuck there, I would’ve called an Uber. But George didn’t have that option," Beasock, George's owner, said, talking about how, despite a 'not-so-easy' journey, the cat eventually returned home after escaping the hospital. Remember, cats are generally considered naturally unaffectionate, but Joey Lusvardi, a certified cat behavioral specialist, said, "Contrary to popular belief, cats are very attached to us, so they will want to find their way back home eventually." Further, he said, with time, cats have evolved to find their way back. He said, "We think it’s due to a combination of scent or visual markers and possibly geomagnetism."

So, the next time people are talking about stereotypical ideas regarding cats, you will have a better way of dealing with them.  While George's story might have made you think about cats' remarkable sense of smell, let's dive into an equally interesting and related topic — Feline olfaction. Domestic cats, as reported by Felidae Conservation Fund, can have double as many scent receptors in their nose as compared to humans. This, perhaps, explains why felines can smell about 14 times better than humans. In fact, the sense of smell in domestic cats and other wild felids doesn't only come from their nose; rather, they have an additional smelling system, called the vomeronasal (VNO) organ. This one-of-a-kind, extraordinary system helps felines communicate through scent, where the VNO organ plays a crucial role in "enhancing the detection of pheromones in the vicinity of the cat."

Located on the roof of their mouth, the VNO organ, connected to the nasal cavities, is also present in many other species, including snakes and horses. Moreover, the report said that domestic cats have attracted scientists who have been working closely with them to understand if they could possibly help in the detection of cancer and other diseases in humans, simply by using their heightened olfactory senses.