The Cat That Surfed on a Van Going 60 MPH Is Somehow Still Alive

Ronda Rankin was whizzing down a stretch of interstate in Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday night when her daughter noticed something strange about the car next to them. There seemed to be some sort of round, fuzzy blur on the roof of the maroon minivan that was flying down the road at about 60 MPH. When they inched a little closer to the van, there was no mistaking it: The ball of fluff clinging onto the roof for dear life was, without a doubt, a cat.

😱 WHOA! A friend shared this video of a cat riding on top of this van going 60 mph on I-480 between Martha & Farnam in Omaha Friday around 8:30 p.m. People in the van had no idea! "They were shocked and scared! They immediately pulled over.” Anyone know what happened to cat? 🙀 pic.twitter.com/b4xWxaqu3W

— Chinh Doan (@ChinhDoan) May 20, 2018

Side-by-side with the minivan, Rankin waved at it while her husband honked. “There’s a cat on your roof!” Rankin mouthed, pointing up at it. “A cat on your roof!”

The minivan slowed down, veered off to the side of the highway, and disappeared behind them, taking the uncertain fate of the daredevil feline with it.

But on Thursday, ABC affiliate KET7 managed to track down the cat’s owners, and discovered that—miraculously—the cat, aptly named Rebel, was still alive. And he hadn’t even gotten injured. Michelle Criger, the Rebel’s owner, told KET7 she had no idea that he had been surfing on top of their van. Apparently the cat likes to hang out around the car, and Criger knows to look under the van and inside of it before she drives anywhere. But she didn’t think to check on top of it—until the Rankins flagged her down.

🐱UPDATE: “Rebel,” yes, that’s the curious cat’s name, had no injuries, and as many may have hoped, the van belonged to his owner. So he’s back home and back to being rebellious. 😸 #catonvan #ketvcat #iskittyok #rebelthecat pic.twitter.com/hYMKYSeiRe

— Chinh Doan (@ChinhDoan) May 23, 2018

“When I got him off the roof of the van, he wasn’t scared at all,” Criger told KET7. “He wasn’t shaking, heart racing, nothing. We were more scared than him.”

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And so Rebel the cat lives on, presumably, as his name suggests, gearing up for his next death-defying feat of bravery. Maybe he’ll graduate from hitchhiking and move on to scaling very tall telephone poles, or perhaps, feeling bit by the travel bug, he’ll try to make his next getaway via plane. And why not? He’s still got eight lives left.

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