This week: Polynesian dance in Fremont, a new cat cafe in SF, a South Bay Batman, book clubs of the Peninsula, and California pollinators. Also, examining an ancient Greek star map using physics; supporting stroke survivors; and highlighting the unsettling parts of suburban life.

Traces in the margins

In Menlo Park, a lab built for cutting-edge physics is being used to recover something far older. Researchers at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are using x-ray imaging to look through layers of ancient parchment, revealing a star map that was written in ancient Greece and later scraped away.

By analyzing the chemical makeup of old inks and metals, the team can reconstruct what once sat on the page, even when nothing is visible to the eye. The work offers a rare glimpse into how early astronomers charted the sky and how fragile that record can be. — NBC Bay Area

Other hands in the garden

As gardens start to wake up for spring, it’s a good moment to notice the many quiet pollinators preparing for their busiest season, from hummingbirds and native bees to butterflies and even flies, all getting ready to carry color and life from plant to plant.

Pollination shapes about 80% of flowering plants and most food crops, from cocoa and bananas to agave, while cross-pollination keeps species resilient through genetic diversity. In California, where roughly 1,600 native bee species live, understanding these roles matters as introduced honeybees compete for resources and spread disease. — Marin Independent Journal

Rooms for whiskers and lounging

At Whiskerwood Haven in SF’s Inner Richmond, cats arrive through a network of foster homes and step into a space designed to show who they really are. The lounge lets people spend time with them, watch their temperaments unfold, and make more thoughtful matches than a quick shelter visit allows.

Whiskerwood Haven is open daily from 11 am to 7 pm. — Richmond Sunset News

Cul-de-sacs and quiet weather

Jonathan Crow paints the California suburb as a place where light, color, and unease share the same frame. Drawing from childhood memories, film training, and a life split between parenting and the art studio, his scenes hold ordinary spaces open long enough for something unsettled to surface.

Pools, gardens, and abandoned carts become stages for moods shaped by politics, memory, and the strange calm of residential life. Crow’s solo show, Cul-de-Sac, is on view at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara through May 3, with a reception on January 24. — 48 Hills

A cape in the margins

For nearly eight years, the Batman of San Jose has walked the city at night with water, food, and first-aid supplies, building trust with people living unhoused. What began as a teenager’s response to discrimination has grown into a mix of street outreach and public advocacy, including speaking at City Hall and pushing for housing-first policies.

His costume is practical as much as it is symbolic, stocked with medical gear and a cape that can double as an emergency blanket. The work now extends beyond him through Bay Area Superheroes, a small mutual-aid collective active across San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. — KQED

Small circles, open books

Book clubs across the Peninsula are giving people simple ways to meet through libraries and independent bookstores. Some focus on graphic novels, others on short novellas, cookbooks, or quiet “silent reading” sessions.

Many are open to the public and built to feel low-pressure, whether that means shorter books, casual discussion, or just reading alongside others. Groups meet in places like Mitchell Park Library in Palo Alto, Fireside Books & More in Redwood City, Sanchez Library in Pacifica, and Feldman’s Books in Menlo Park. — Mountain View Voice

Life after stroke

After a severe stroke in 2010, Debra Meyerson had to leave her tenured Stanford job and relearn how to speak, while grappling with her sense of identity. She and her husband, Steve Zuckerman, turned that experience into Stroke Onward, a nonprofit supporting survivors beyond medical recovery.

They’ve since organized a 4,500-mile tandem bike ride, launched live storytelling through the Stroke Monologues, and created an online community connecting survivors, care partners, and medical professionals. — KPIX

Waves in motion

In a Fremont industrial park, the Hula Halau ‘O Nalua fills the room with drums, chants, and synchronized movement that pulls dancers into the rhythms of Hawaii and Tahiti. Students of all ages glide through Kahiko, hula ‘Auana, and Ote’a, connecting to ancestry, culture, and each other.

For many, hula goes beyond steps and rhythms, offering a break from the daily grind, a moment of focus, and a link across generations. The school, approaching its 50th year, also tours internationally and fosters community through ongoing performances and family involvement. — Bay Area News Group

Top image: Jonathan Crow

Previously: Field Notes: Suitcases for Foster Youth, an East Bay Roundhouse, and a Teen Artist in ‘70s-Era Berkeley

An indoor cat named Pepper recently had the adventure of her life when she slipped through the door of her family’s home in Boise, Idaho, only to be found weeks later hundreds of miles away in San Francisco’s Mission Bay.

As Boise’s CBS2 reports, the adventure-seeking cat fled Boise in early October and wasn’t heard from again until mid-November when she was brought into San Francisco Animal Care and Control from the streets of Mission Bay. Luckily, Pepper was microchipped, and her owners drove 645 miles overnight to retrieve her.

Pepper was reportedly very expressive about her adventures. “She let out this huge meow...you came and got me, it was so great. And then she talked to us all the way home, all about her adventures,” Pepper’s owner, Lindsay Jensen, told KPIX. “I wish we could understand, but it was great.”

As to be expected, Pepper returned from her epic travels a changed cat. In addition to losing a significant amount of body weight, some of which she’s since gained back, she’s no longer the wild and carefree kitten she once was.

"She just sticks real close to us now," Jensen told KPIX. "She was a wild, crazy, run around the house-type kitten and I think this traumatized her a little bit. She's just been sticking close to my husband and I."

In a social media post, SF Animal Care and Control used Pepper's globe-trotting experience as a reminder for residents to microchip their pets. "All’s well that ends well because of a microchip! Microchip your pets! This announcement brought to you by Pepper."

Image: SF Animal Care and Control

Waymo has acknowledged that one of its autonomous vehicles ran over a beloved corner store cat on 16th Street Monday, and the company says it will be making a donation to an animal rights organization in the cat's honor.

The circumstances surrounding the Monday night death of KitKat, a well known and well loved resident cat at Randa's Market on 16th Street in SF's Mission District, will likely continue to be scrutinized. Multiple witnesses were reportedly present for the accident, in which the cat was either on or next to the sidewalk, and a Waymo vehicle was reportedly picking up passengers and pulled out quickly from the curbside.

When we first learned about the cat's demise earlier this week, we only knew there was a 311 call recorded about the incident, and Waymo had not yet confirmed whether one of its vehicles was responsible. The cat had been described as being on the sidewalk at the time, near the transit lane.

The company gave a statement to KRON4 late Thursday, pledging to make a donation in KitKat's honor, and seeming to blame the cat for "darting" under the wheel of the car — an account that eyewitnesses may or may not agree with.

"The trust and the safety of the communities we serve is our highest priority," Waymo's statement says. "We reviewed this, and while our vehicle was stopped to pick up passengers, a nearby cat darted under our vehicle as it was pulling away. We send our deepest sympathies to the cat’s owner and the community who knew and loved him, and we will be making a donation to a local animal rights organization in his honor.”

The incident highlights the discomfort that many feel as autonomous vehicles continue to proliferate on the city's streets, and as the potential for grows for injuries and fatalities for which no human can be deemed responsible.

Waymo and other autonomous tech companies insist, their robocars are far more safe, on average, than human-driven ones, which may be true. But instances like these have a way of souring public sentiment as the growth of AI continues to dominate the cultural conversation.

"I just find it disgusting that Waymo has [a role] in this,” says neighbor Sarah Koohnz, speaking to KRON4. “I’ve known multiple people that have been hit by those vehicles, myself included, and I just find it disgusting that that’s the way KitKat went."

The 311 caller noted that "the Waymo didn’t even try to stop and hit the cat at a fast speed" after allegedly swerving in front of another vehicle. That description would tend to cast doubt on the claim that the cat darted under the vehicle.

KitKat has been a fixture at Randa's since 2020, and was featured in an SFGate roundup of corner store cats that year. A memorial shrine to the cat on the sidewalk outside the market has only grown in recent days.

In a high-profile incident that led directly to the demise of Waymo competitor Cruise, a woman who was crossing Fifth Street near Market — also described at the time as "darting" — was struck by a vehicle and knocked into the path of a Cruise vehicle, which did not immediately stop and proceeded to drag the woman twenty feet. The woman survived the incident but was badly injured.

Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana was actually asked about the issue on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt Monday, just hours before KitKat's tragic death.

“Will society accept that? Will society accept a death potentially caused by a robot?” asked TechCrunch transportation editor Kristen Korosec, per SFGate.

"I think that society will," Mawakana said. "I think the challenge for us is making sure that society has a high enough bar on safety that companies are held to."

Mawakana added, "We have to be in this open and honest dialogue about the fact that we know it’s not perfection."

Previously: Beloved Bodega Cat Allegedly Killed By Waymo In Mission District

Top image via Randa's Market/Instagram

Photo: San Leandro Police Department

A Napa animal rescue, shelter, and adoption organization had its van stolen this weekend, but more alarmingly, there were 16 rescue cats in the van when the cat burglar struck.

The city of Napa has a cat and dog rescue organization called Whiskers, Tails and Ferals, an all-volunteer organization that spays and neuters abandoned or feral cats and dogs, cares for them, and helps them find forever homes. Noble work indeed, but that work was disrupted apparently on Saturday night at around 11 p.m., as KRON4 reports that their van with 16 cats inside was stolen.

“Our Whiskers Tails and Ferals van has been stolen from the front of my house,” the rescue organization says in the Facebook post above. “It’s a Ford transit vehicle big white van here in Napa. It has cats in traps that were just trapped here in Napa in the back of the van. I could care less about the van. I want my cats!!!!”

“A thief rode up on his bicycle [and] hotwired” the van, the post notes, indicating the theft occurred at about 11 p.m. Friday night. The post also helpfully adds that the van’s license plate number is 48007E2.

There were a reported 16 cats inside the vehicle, and heartbreakingly, they were about to be taken to a veterinarian for medical care. The van has been reported stolen to the Napa police, but reportedly is still missing as of Monday afternoon.

Anyone with information on this incident, or possible knowledge of the van's whereabouts can is asked to call Whiskers, Tails and Ferals at 707-258-CATS (2287).

Related: Thief Steals Van That Turns Out To Have Eight Dogs Inside, But Dogs And Van All Quickly Recovered [SFist]

Image: Whiskers, Tails and Ferals via Facebook

A feral kitty committee of 30-40 feral cats is expanding and “having a field day on the A’s turf,” and stadium authorities have decided to simply cede the place to them, but will attempt to have the cats spayed and neutered.  

Hoodline reported on the feral cat nuisance at the Oakland Coliseum last week, ahead of the A's home opener. And a Friday announcement from the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority sounded both ominous and highly adorable at the same time.

“Feral cats have multiplied since the corona virus and the kittens are running wild," Coliseum Authority executive director Henry Gardner wrote in a memorandum, just days before Monday’s Oakland A’s home opener. "The good news is the rat population has decreased substantially. The bad news is the cats are now gaining access to the inside of the Arena and are having a field day on the A’s turf, causing a nuisance.”

As Defector warned, “the enormous cat colony that has moved in and gotten comfortable and had tons of sex and cannot, apparently, be evicted in time for Monday’s A’s home opener.”

As Hoodline previously noted, Gardner suggested the Coliseum Authority “devise a plan to humanely relocate them and maybe trying an adoption strategy with some of our patrons.” But Oakland Animal Services warned them that feral cats would not make good house pets, and suggested that if the cats were removed, they would simply be replaced by other feral cats.

And thus, the Chronicle reports that the feral cats will be allowed to stay at Oakland Coliseum. “Instead of evicting the feline interlopers, animal services officials have enlisted an outside group, Island Cat Resources and Adoption, which will capture the feral cats, spay or neuter them and return them to the Coliseum,” according to the paper. “That will help stabilize the population.”

The above tweet is a joke. The dismal attendance figure is accurate, but there are really only an estimated 30-40 of the feral cats. Still, the decaying husk of a sports venue known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has had a myriad of embarrassing problems, from raw sewage overflows in the locker room, to frequently changing naming right deals that may have involved some shady backroom arrangements, and of course, consistently terrible attendance.

So maybe they ought to embrace this feral cat thing! It captures the public's imagination, it may bring more casual fans to the park, and they could even do some clever marketing with the cats. Because as seen above, it is never not funny when a cat runs onto a field during a game.

Related: Bear And Feral Cat Are Friends At Folsom Zoo [SFist]

Image: @42north via Unsplash

Ever since San Francisco enacted its shelter-in-place order, the SF SPCA Pet Adoption Center has effectively remained closed with no adoptable animals on site. Though many of the shelter’s cats and dogs have since been taken in by foster families, more temporary homes are needed.

If you’re itching to do something altruistic and, too, need an excuse to take more socially distant walks, now’s the time to perhaps consider fostering a four-legged companion.

The San Francisco SPCA has expressed a need to find more of its animal’s temporary homes amid the adoption facility’s closing. That said, felines and canines who find themselves in foster families “win” across the board. For the human tending to said animal (or animals), committing to a short-term foster is an excellent way to see if adoption is right for them — or, at the very least, receive some unconditional love during these strange times.

“This is a huge win for the animals,” SF SPCA Veterinarian Dr. Jennifer Scarlet said to KRON4, waxing about the benefits an at-home environment can give a sheltered animal.

“To be able to be in a home and get love, and see the world and socialize during this crisis, it’s so good for them," she adds. "And for people who are interested in adoption, this is a chance for them to try it out quite frankly. And for some people who can’t adopt, this is a time for them to give back and give back to the community.”

If you’re new to fostering — or ever find yourself needing assistance while looking over a cat or dog — the SPCA’s foster team is available (presumably by phone, text, and/or Zoom call) to help answer questions about kitten feeding times, acceptable chew toys for pups, you name it.

“The foster team is amazing,” Frances Hochschild, who’s fostering a puppy named Itsy, said to the news outlet. “They trained us before on kittens and now on puppies. When they’re ready for her to go back, we’ll bring her back.”

“It’s kind of a nice perk of quarantine because I definitely couldn’t bring my dog to regular school,” Hochschild adds, before spitting an undeniable truth — “Everything’s better with a puppy.”

If you’d like to use this time indoors to foster a fur-child and have more specific questions, you can contact the SF SPCA’s adoption center at adoptions@sfspca.org; consider also reading up on their foster program and joining the “Foster Interest List,” here.

And should fostering be out of the picture but you’d still like to help out in some capacity, donate to the SF SPCA.

Related: Support the SF and Oakland Zoos As They Weather the Pandemic Shutdown

SF SPCA Bans Controversial 'Prong' Dog Collars From Campuses

The Georgia-based troupe of (sort of) circus-trained house cats known as The Amazing Acro-Cats are coming back to San Francisco five years after their 2014 debut here. This posse of pussycats are playing shows at Fort Mason from May 1 to May 14, and there are still plenty of tickets available.

If you've never seen nor heard of the Acro-Cats, a little background: The gang is led by self-taught animal trainer, Samantha Martin, who quit her day job over a decade ago to devote herself to training and hiring out show and performance cats. Martin owns and operates Samantha's Amazing Animals, which places trained cats in film and TV roles, and she began doing the cat circus primarily as a way to keep her stable of performing cats mentally sharp. But then in 2009, The Amazing Acro-Cats was born as a touring show, first based out of Chicago. More recently, Martin and her cats have moved to Griffin, Georgia, but they continue to tour. (A documentary about her and the Acro-Cats aired at SF's DocFest in 2018.)

Martin uses a clicker and treats to train the cats, and she says, "We use our show as an entertaining demonstration of what cats are really capable of, as well as the healthy benefits of clicker training."

A little more dubiously, Martin has said, "They enjoy the training. They want you to work with them," which may be true, but not always? (See Colbert video below.)

In addition to cat tricks, the act also features an all-cat band: The Rock-cats. The cats don't necessarily play the entire tune, but some have been trained to hit keyboard keys and, most notably, play the cowbell.

Martin says that most of her cats are former rescues or strays, and that she's helped adopt out upwards of 140 cats through her Acro-Cats shows. Also, she says she typically donates a portion of the show's proceeds to cat rescue organizations.

Tickets for the Fort Mason dates can be found here. But first, below, please enjoy the Acro-Cats' hilariously reluctant performance efforts on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2015. You can't always get a cat to perform on command, clearly. But a few of them really pulled it off!

After more than a week the the Northern California wildfires are finally beginning to approach containment. As officials continue to search for the missing and survivors return to what's left of their homes, we're just beginning to comprehend the massive devastation the blazes have wrought. It's times like these that we have to cling to what author Raymond Carver referred to as the small good things — the little flashes of hope in what's otherwise a tragic world.

For me, many of those small good things are animals. The same seems to be true of many of the victims (both still with us and not) — think of the number of times you've read in the past week about folks who packed the pets in the car as they fled the flames, or pups like Odin and Izzy who were happily reunited with their families.

So here are some more small good animal stories we've heard during these terrible fires. Spoiler alert: In each one of these tales, the beasts survive.

Santa Rosa resident Linda Hamik has been trying to catch this chubby stray chihuahua for months, and when she was evacuated (twice) the dog remained on her mind. When she was able to return home, she tells SF Gate, she found that the dog had miraculously survived though it was only about a mile from Coffey Park, one of the worst-ravaged areas. Not only that, but around the time the fire broke out Sunday night, the chihuahua was giving birth to six puppies. Hamik's taken the whole family into her garage for fostering until they can be scooped up by an area animal rescue org.

There are a lot of great, happy cat stories out there! Milo, seen in the video above, was rescued from beneath a car by a Sonoma County Sheriff's Deputy. KTVU reports that Ed Ratliff (Milo's guardian) says the cat ran off during the rush to evacuate. The resulting fire took Ratliff's home and all his possessions, but other than a bit of dehydration, Milo's fine and back with his family.

Meanwhile, ABC 7 reports, a PG&E worker tasked with fixing Santa Rosa's power lines is operating a side project rescuing cats. So far, she's "reunited two with their families and has taken one to the vet," they report.

Kids with Napa's Vintage High School FFA have also gone into the rescue game, "heading out into the night to rescue livestock in harm's way," ABC 7 reports. The kids picked up 250 horses, goats, sheep, pigs, llamas, and chickens and are caring for them at the school's farm until they can be reclaimed by their guardians. Though the some of the beasts suffered "smoke inhalation and stress," they're all expected to recover.

I don't have any backstory here, but I appreciate the firefighter's knife technique.

The fire approached Paul and Drusilla Robinson's Santa Rosa home so swiftly that even though they searched for their dog Bill, they had to leave him behind. They were sure he had died, a Marin Humane spokesperson told the SF Gate. According to NBC Bay Area, a "police officer found Bill in a field, shaking with fear as fire and smoke surrounded him." Bill's collar showed his home address, but the residence has been consumed by flames. The folks at Marin Humane managed to track the Robinsons down and they reunited with Bill this weekend.

Napa County Animal Control worked with vets from Napa Valley Equine to save this "85 year old, 200 lb tortoise" as the fire approached. They say via Facebook that "it took 4 people to lift it up into a wheel barrow so they could get it off the property, which had limited road access." The rescue is "a unique highlight," they say, "during such somber times."

Related: Hero Dog Who Stuck With Rescue Goats During Wildfire Reunited With Family

Given the vast number of cats available for adoption in San Francisco, who on earth would you 1) go all the way to San Bruno then 2) pepper-spray someone to steal a cat? Those are but some of the questions I have for a San Francisco couple who police say did just that on Saturday.

According to a press release from the San Bruno Police Department, at 7:22 p.m. on September 23, officers were called to a home on the 1000 block of National Avenue, which people from outside San Bruno might recognize as just behind that big Tanforan mall with the two-story Target.

When they arrived, police were told that two suspects entered an apartment, pepper-sprayed the resident, and "forcefully stole a pet cat."

San Bruno police say that they worked with the San Francisco Police Department to track down the suspects in the catnapping, and arrested them right here in SF. They have been identified as a 26-year-old man named Oleksandr Mirza and a 26-year-old woman named Ching Yen, both SF residents.

Further information, such as any possible motive behind the theft, was not released to the public as of Wednesday morning. Police do say that the investigation is ongoing, and that anyone with information related to the case should contact the San Bruno Police Department at (650) 616-7100 or by email at sbpdtipline@sanbruno.ca.gov.

Police do confirm that both Mirza and Yen were booked into San Mateo County Jail for "charges related to robbery, burglary, unlawful use of tear gas, and conspiracy." According to a San Mateo County Sheriff's Department spokesperson, Mirza and Yen remain in custody as of publication time. A date for their initial court appearance is as yet unknown.

Related: Dog Reportedly Stolen From SoMa Whole Foods

A jet packed with adoptable cats and dogs landed in the Bay Area Thursday, all refugees from Florida shelters emptied as preparation for Hurricane Irma.

It's all thanks to the Walnut Creek-based Animal Rescue Foundation, a shelter founded by former Oakland A's great Tony La Russa after a stray cat wandered onto the field during a 1990 game between the A's and the Yankees. Since then, they've helped save over 36,000 pets, their website says — most recently the 152 who flew in from Florida yesterday.

ARF was first contacted by the Humane Society of Broward County, Florida Tuesday, CBS 5 reports, "once it was clear that the storm could lead to catastrophic damage in the Fort Lauderdale area."

“By clearing shelter space," ARF Executive Director Elena Bicker says, Florida animal care officials "can better respond to recovery efforts and focus on reuniting any local owners and pets who may be displaced by the storm."

Working with the East Bay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Berkeley Humane Society, ARF greeted a cross country flight with 60 dogs and 92 cats at the APP Jet Center in Hayward Thursday.

Some of the animals will be housed at ARF's Walnut Creek facility, KRON 4 reports. According to the Berkeley Humane Society, at least 50 of the pets will be sheltered there.

But though the animals are available for adoption, don't rush to the Berkeley Humane Society's adoption center quite yet. "In order to ensure we are meeting the medical and emotional needs of our animal population we will not be open for adoptions this weekend," they write on their website.

"By closing our shelter on Friday, 09/08, Saturday, 09/09, and Sunday, 09/10 we will allow our volunteers and staff to focus on animal care and ensure all of the required medical records and paperwork are in order and that the animals have recovered from their long journey."

But the wait is worth it, as after that shelter reopens for adoptions on Friday September 15th, "Berkeley Humane will waive all adoption fees in order to remove any potential barriers to finding these animals new loving homes."

The Berkeley Humane Society is located at 2700 Ninth Street in Berkeley. It'll reopen on Friday 9/15, and allows adoptions from11-5 Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Marin-based CHP officers rescued a small orange cat on Saturday who somehow managed to get inside the movable median barrier near the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.

They relayed the tale on Facebook which was subsequently picked up by CBS 5 and elsewhere, and it all happened just before 3 p.m., after they received a report from a concerned citizen who spotted the kitten.

Officers say that they missed the cat on their first pass across the bridge, but then on a second pass, "As they approached the south tower on the bridge they noticed a little furry head popping out from inside of the movable median barrier that separates the northbound and southbound lanes. The officers blocked the lane of traffic and exited their vehicle to rescue the little guy. They were able to quickly free the little guy and hop back in their car to safely transport him off the bridge."

The kitten was taken to VCA Madera Pet Hospital in Corte Madera where he was checked out and given "a much needed bath."

The CHP says "We are very perplexed as to how he managed to get so far out in the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge without being hit by another vehicle," and I would concur.

Was the cat purposely abandoned in such a precarious spot? The kitten had no collar and no microchip, and so for now, they've tentatively named him Bridges and Officer Smith of the Marin CHP is fostering the kitten until he can find a permanent home.

The CHP is asking if anyone recognizes the cat or lost him to contact them on Facebook or at 415-924-1100.

Tigger the cat and Magic the rabbit are best friends, you guys. And now the Marin Humane Society is looking for someone to take them both in, because they can't be separated.

CBS 5 picks up the story of Tigger and Magic, who were living together with a family that couldn't take the pair with them when they moved. Tigger is 9 years old and Magic 6, and as far as we know they've been together all of Magic's life — they follow each other around, sleep together, and eat together.

As Marin Humane spokesperson Lisa Bloch tells the station, "When two animals are bonded it means a lot, just like when two people are bonded. So we hope to find them a great home."

And a bonus for anyone who might adopt them (I'm guessing there could be a lot of takers after this news broadcast): They're both housebroken, each with his own litter box.

Update: Bloch reached out to SFist to let us know that as of Friday, Magic and Tigger were adopted by a San Francisco family, and below is a going home photo with Magic.

Late Friday night, Ashley Aleman of Watsonville, California got a call she wasn't expecting: The Guelph Humane Society of Ontario, Canada rang her up to say that her cat, BooBoo, was safe at their shelter, identified by microchip. But BooBoo was lost four years ago, in California, and Aleman had assumed the worst.

"We though we had lost our cat BooBoo out to the wild life but it turns out that she was out having a trip to Canada," Aleman writes to a gofundme page where she's hoping to round up $600 for travel fees for BooBoo, who apparently doesn't remember the way back.

Melissa Stolz, an animal program co-ordinator at the Guelph shelter, tells the local Mercury Tribune that the brown tabby was in good shape when she got to the shelter. As far as the long distance BooBoo travelled, "All we can do is wonder," Stolz says. "Maybe she accidentally got into some sort of vehicle," Stolz said. "It could have been anything, but I don't think we'll ever know."

Aleman tells CBC she's very emotional over the prospect of a reunion with her lost pet. "I already told my husband, you better prepare yourself because I'm going to lose it," Aleman said, "I'm going to break down and I'm going to cry, because it was a hard thing to lose her."

Whether BooBoo will feel anything, however, we'll never know. Judge according to your thoughts about the emotional capacity of cats, I suppose. "We are still in the same exact house she actually left us in so we are hoping it will be a little remembering for her," Aleman says

Related: Dog Lost For A Decade Found In Fort Funston, Identified By Microchip

The latest photo of Jo PAW-velski. Thanks @hssv for taking care of our kitty #SJSharks #SmashNash #sharksblackcat pic.twitter.com/gjBLiUIUuR

— Jim Sparaco (@JimSparaco) May 8, 2016

While they didn't walk away with the Stanley Cup this year, losing in the finals to Pittsburgh, one San Jose Sharks player did pick up a life-changing prize on the ice this season: An adorable stray black cat who scurried out onto the rink during Game 1 of the team's second-round playoff series.

Fox Sports covered the incident, observing that the cat became a sort of good luck symbol for the Sharks. To encourage a family to adopt the cat and others like it, a Silicon Valley humane society even set up a live-cam to watch it and others.

In the end, someone did step up: The San Jose Mercury News reports that none other than Sharks forward Patrick Marleau and his family adopted the kitty, whom the team named Jo Paw-velski after captain Joe Pavelski. In fact, Marleau and his wife, Christin, went so far as to adopt the cat's sibling, too.

Previously: Watch A Stray Cat Slip And Slide On The Ice Before Sharks Game In San Jose