Cat let off at wrong bus stop back home

Ali Streimer chose a good name for Athena, a little black cat with green eyes that made it back home after getting off a bus at the wrong stop.

Athena _ who shares her name with the Greek goddess of wisdom and skill, among other things _ found her way to her owner's arms three weeks after being chased off the New York-bound bus.

Ali Streimer had fallen asleep while riding the bus Thanksgiving weekend from Pikesville, the Baltimore suburb where her parents live, back to New York, where she lives. Athena, meanwhile, managed to free herself from her carrying case, began strolling through the bus and was let off by the driver about 20 miles into the trip. The driver assumed the cat was a stowaway because passengers are not allowed to bring pets onto the bus, a rule Streimer did not know about at the time.

After three weeks of frantic searching, Athena was spotted near the bus stop where Streimer and Athena first boarded the bus. Athena was "freaked" family members said and it took several hours for Streimer and her father to catch her.

"It's amazing," Streimer told The Baltimore Examiner in a telephone interview from New York.

"It was just the timing; we got lucky."

A trip to the vet confirmed Athena was in good health despite the three-week ordeal, Streimer said.