Meatloaf - characterized by his owner as a "slightly larger," fluffy, 2-year old-gray cat - survived a three-week cross-country journey with no food or water.

On Jan. 31, Meatloaf wandered into a portable moving container of a man relocating from Pompano Beach, Fla., to Phoenix. From there the container sat in a warehouse until beginning its 3,500-mile journey across the country to Arizona.



On Tuesday, meows were heard from one of the units in the Portable On Demand Storage warehouse near 67th Avenue and Buckeye Road.

After locating the unit, and getting permission from the owner to open the container, a slightly dazed and rather underweight Meatloaf was placed safely in the hands of an emergency animal medical technician.

"It was unbelievable how calm and friendly he was after being in that container for so long," said Tommy LaBarr, manager of Portable on Demand Storage in Phoenix.

Kimberly Noetzel, Director of Marketing and Community Relations for the Arizona Humane Society, said that Meatloaf "had a few reserves," and that was what probably saved him.

Meatloaf's owner, who had been posting missing flyers and looking for him in the shelters of Broward County, Florida, had been located and is "thrilled" to be reunited, according to Noetzel.