‘Certified baddie’: House cat survives 40 days alone in Colorado wilderness

"She's a certified baddie now" | A 3-year-old house cat survived 40 days alone in the Colorado wilderness before she was reunited with her owner.

Read the full article on KETV 7

OAK GROVE, Minn. —

One Minnesota woman experienced every pet owner’s worst nightmare: Her cat went missing while she was on vacation. It took a stranger’s goodwill, lots of luck and the grit of one tough kitty to reunite the pair.

While driving back from Los Angeles, Nakee Bullen and her boyfriend made a pit stop in Colorado. They set up camp outside Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Then it happened: Bullen’s cats vanished.

“I woke up at about 5:30, 6 o’clock in the morning, and both of them were gone,” Bullen said.

Nakee’s other cat Lewis was nearby. As for Fridge, a 3-year-old domestic shorthair — she was nowhere to be seen.

After scouring every campsite in a 7-mile radius, Nakee made the hardest decision of her life: to call off the search and head home.

“I felt like I left a little piece of me there,” Bullen said. “Driving back, I was just crying because she wasn’t here with me, and all I wanted was my baby.”

She kept looking from home, checking the humane society website and social media. But she saw nothing.

“Every time I did, it was the most heartbreaking thing. I mean, you’d see cats that look a lot like her, but it wasn’t her.”

Park rangers told her the likelihood of finding Fridge was extremely low.

Predators in the park include coyotes, mountain lions, black bears, bobcats and golden eagles, and temperatures ranged from the nineties during the day to the forties Fahrenheit at night.

Then, after 40 days alone in the Colorado wilderness, a miracle happened for Fridge and her owner.

“She’s a fighter. She’s a certified baddie now,” Bullen said.

Someone had turned Fridge in to the humane society. Nakee instantly made the 16-hour drive to reunite.

“It was just absolute tears of joy,” she said.

And despite being lost for over a month, Fridge was mostly healthy. She had lost about three pounds, Outside Magazine reported Bullen saying, and when Bullen took her to the vet, they found dried blood under her toes that wasn’t hers, suggesting that she was hunting small mammals.

“She’s a little underweight. Spending 40 days in the wilderness in Colorado will do that to you,” Bullen said.

All the more reason to have an extra treat.