The cat was last seen June 7, before a tornado destroyed Wanda Ploeger's mobile home, scattering her belongings. She was at work when the tornado hit and couldn't find her cat when she returned home.

Ploeger knew Smoky was out there somewhere. She'd go out late at night to look for the cat and kept telling people she had a feeling about him.

While driving a little over two miles from where her trailer used to be in mid-September, Ploeger saw a white streak and asked the driver to stop the truck along the highway.

The cat had gone over the hill so she crouched down and called to Smokey until he came to her.

Research shows the largest percentage of lost or missing cats involve an outdoor-access cat turning up missing very soon after a house move. Cats are territorial by nature and if they don't perceive the new home as their territory, they may try to get back to the old house. Even if they don't succeed in returning to the old home, they are motivated to look for it.

My own cat Sonny Cosmos had a similar experience. He moved with my daughter to an apartment several blocks from our home. One day he simply was gone. Despite lost and found ads and posters we couldn't find him anywhere. We occasionally got a lead from one of the kid's friends. The last one being about five miles away near the city park. Still, we couldn't find him.

I moved to a new house about a mile from our old one. After several months we mourned the loss of Sonny and hoped that someone was providing him a good home.

Most cats do not literally "run away" even if abused -- if anything they would prefer to stay put because they are innately territorial. It is more likely that a cat was lured by a squirrel, or chased by a dog into a new area. Then the cat finds itself reluctant to leave the new territory out of fear.

Late one afternoon I got a call from the people who bought my old house. It seemed Sonny or a cat that looked like a thinner version kept coming to the back door and trying to come in. A few times when he got inside he went to the kitchen, sat in front of the sink and meowed for food. Old habits die hard with cats.

We immediately headed over and lo and behold it was our Sonny. He had obviously traveled some distance and needed some TLC. But, we had him back.

To this day anytime we have a few cardboard boxes sitting around Sonny gets nervous.

I was fascinated at how my cat not only survived by found his way home from miles away. I started researching the phenomenon and discovered that cats have a strong homing instinct.

There are two types of homing instincts: one type refers to the ability of an animal, after being moved, stolen, or lost outside their established territory, to return to their home base. Another type refers to the ability of an animal to follow their owner, when their owner has moved away and left the animal behind, called "psi trailing."

This is a term that Dr. Joseph Rhine of Duke University coined to refer to animals managing to locate their owners after the owner moves away and leaves the animal behind. He documented a number of cases of this phenomenon. In one case a cat followed its owner, a veterinarian, from New York to California. The cat settled down immediately in the "old cat's" favorite chair, and, after taking x-rays, the new cat also happened to have the same physical abnormality as the "old cat."

Scientists in Germany and the US have tested cats to find out if they had this first type of homing instinct, the ability to return to home base after being removed. In the US test they sedated a bunch of cats (so that the cats could not consciously remember the route by sight, sound, smell, touch or taste), drove them on a very circuitous route to a big maze and then released the awakened cats, one by one. The maze had openings in 15-degree increments.

The cats were left to wander at their leisure and exit if they wanted. More often than not, the cat exited the maze at the closest point towards their home. Older cats performed better than younger. Homing ability dropped off with distances greater than 7.5 miles from home.

If we mammals are made of cells, molecules, and atoms, maybe the bond between two creatures is not just with the "heart" but also some sort of "rhythm" on an "actual" cellular or electric level that is disrupted when the physical bond is disrupted.

All I know is whatever the reason I'm happy Sonny found his way home. He has changed some. After Sonny came home and before our dog passed away, we often went on neighborhood walks. Sonny would follow us no matter where we went. Not close beside us but several feet back. When he goes outside on his own, he never goes further than two neighbors down (both of which feed him regularly). He has taken to sleeping in a chair next to the front door so he can monitor anyone coming or going.

Since our dog Sheva passed away a year ago in July, Sonny has had to make another adjustment. For a long time, he would just go and sit on her gravesite. Then he began behaving like her. Following us from room to room, laying on our feet, mewing at us whenever we didn't do what he wanted. Bringing us toys to play with him.

But, as with humans, time heals.

Now, Sonny still runs our home. He sits in our laps when he chooses. He demands food and to go outside on his schedule. He even directs when he gets to play with the laser light. It doesn't matter what we are doing or not doing. We are required by our master cat to obey his every whim. And, we being compliant pets to our cat do as we are commanded.

Someone once told me that cats don't have masters or pets, they have staff. If anyone needs a butler or maid, call us.