Cat found after 10 Days at Dubai Airport

Quick heads-up: if you’ve been following the story of the missing airport cat, here’s the good news – she’s been found, after 10 long days.

Avishka Kaumadi, a Sri Lankan woman whose cat Chuuti vanished at Dubai International Airport right before her flight home, says he has finally been located. We first told you about her cat vanishing at the airport when the search had already stretched past five days with no sign of him.

Honestly, this is the kind of story that hits hard if you’ve ever travelled with a pet. Anyone who’s flown an animal in or out of Kuwait knows how stressful even the paperwork alone can be, let alone losing your pet mid-journey.

How did Chuuti go missing in the first place?

Kaumadi was booked on an 11pm flight from Dubai to Sri Lanka on 11 October. She was sending Chuuti as air cargo, which meant extra paperwork and an inspection before boarding.

She says she completed the documents and payment, and Chuuti was checked against them between around 8.30pm and 9.25pm. He was then placed back in his carrier.

After that, Kaumadi went through immigration into the duty-free area. That’s when an airline staff member called to tell her Chuuti had escaped from his carrier.

She immediately asked to go back and help search, but says she was told she needed permission first. When asked if she’d fly without her cat, she was blunt: she told staff she would not board the flight without him.

A night of searching in the dark

Around midnight, Kaumadi was taken to the cargo area. She and a staff member spent over an hour calling out for Chuuti, trying to coax him out.

But the area was dark and poorly lit, which made the search much harder. Chuuti wasn’t found that night. Kaumadi was taken to the boarding area, where the airport arranged a room for her. In total, she stayed at the airport for about 28 hours.

The next day, 12 October, she went back to the airport to follow up. At one stage, staff showed her another white cat to check if it was Chuuti – it wasn’t. She says she was told to go back to Sri Lanka while the search continued, and her contact details were taken so she could get updates.

That evening, she met a representative from the Dubai Airport Management Team. According to Kaumadi, she was told arrangements could be made to fly Chuuti to Sri Lanka whenever he was found, even if it took several weeks.

What’s happened now

Ten days on, Kaumadi shared the update that changed everything: Chuuti has been found. She posted an emotional message on Facebook describing