From Afghanistan to Guilderland Center. The journey of Buster — a cat befriended by a soldier overseas, and then lost and  found again in our region — continues.

Buster’s American story began when he was a stray in Afghanistan and was so “talkative and friendly” that a U.S. soldier “just had to save him,” said Marcia Scott of Happy Cat Rescue in Guilderland Center.

The soldier arranged to have Buster flown to Long Island, where he sat in a dog kennel for three months before being adopted by Heather Bohler, who at the time lived alone on Long Island, Scott said.

After Bohler moved to the Capital District area, to Greenville, the cat ran away, Scott said. And since September 2014, Buster has been homeless.

Joe Hanley, whom Scott had met at a cat adoption event and told about her cat rescue, called her recently to say that he had found a stray cat and to ask if she could take it in.

When she agreed, Hanley drove the cat —who Scott said was covered in ticks — all the way from Freehold, near Greenville, to Scott’s door.

Scott brought the cat to the Companion Animal Medical Center in Rotterdam, where veterinarian Rachael Ragozzino checked him over, gave him some shots, and scanned him for a microchip.

In what Scott said is a very rare turn of events, Buster had a microchip, which revealed the owner’s name, Long Island address, and telephone number.

Scott texted the owner a photo of the cat, and Bohler soon wrote back, in all caps, “BUSTER!” She explained that the cat had run away soon after her move.

Unfortunately, Bohler is not now able to take Buster back, since she is living in her father’s house; he stays there on weekends and has a cat allergy.

It is “very depressing,” Bohler said. Buster had always been an indoor cat while living with her but —perhaps due to his early days on the streets of Afghanistan — had spent a lot of time trying to escape.

The area around her home in Greenville is heavily wooded and populated with coyotes and bears, and people do a lot of trapping, she said. “I was really nervous that I would never see him again.”

When she got the call and text from Scott, she drove to Latham to visit with Buster, who she said is an Arabian Mau, the oldest breed of domesticated cat in the world, native to the Arabian Peninsula.

She told The Enterprise that the soldier who befriended Buster — who she said was a “higher-up” — prefers to remain anonymous because military personnel are not allowed to adopt animals. The reason for that rule, she said, is that enemy fighters have been known to strap bombs on animals before sending them onto military bases.

So Buster’s journey continues. He is currently at the Petsmart in Latham, where he is available for adoption.