Cat hitches a ride, travels 145 kilometres to Amsterdam

Clearly, this cat was looking for an adventure. Gizmo, a cat from Hengelo, had been missing for over two months when he was found in the centre of Amsterdam this week. Turns out Gizmo had hitchhiked all the way to the Dutch capital. 

Hengelo cat found roaming the streets of Amsterdam

On Monday night, a group of people called the animal ambulance to report a black cat that had been wandering around the Prinsengracht for several days. A team was sent out to check on the animal and scan its microchip. 

The chip’s details said the cat was from Hengelo, and a quick internet search revealed that a man from the city near the German border been looking for his pet for over two months, describing the cat’s appearance and highlighting the fact that his tail was half amputated - just like the cat found in Amsterdam!

Gizmo happily reunited with his family

The Hengelo family were contacted by the Amsterdam animal ambulance team and jumped in their car to go and pick up Gizmo. As soon as David Snoej saw the cat, he knew it was Gizmo: “It was almost unbelievable. We thought: this is really him. We have our cat back." 

How Gizmo managed to make it all the way across the Netherlands is still not entirely clear. Celine de Jonge from Animal Ambulance Amsterdam suspects he accidentally hitched a ride in a delivery van. Luckily, Gizmo has been reunited with his family and is safe and sound back at his home in Hengelo.