A LYDNEY woman picked up one of her beloved cats from the vets last week – seven years after he disappeared.
When Wendy Scurrah-Hinds received a text last Wednesday that Acuna had been found, she initially thought it must have referred to his brother Matata.
Wendy was worried that the text referred to an eye injury and thought Matata had been involved in a road accident.
But worry turned to joy when the vet – her ex-husband Mark Hinds – confirmed that it was Acuna, the cat she had last seen in 2011.
She said: “A few months after I moved into a new house, Acuna just disappeared – he was a very timid cat and I had given up hope of ever seeing him again.”
Wendy was at work at the knitting shop she runs at Taurus Crafts when she received the text from Severnside Vets saying that Acuna had been found.
She said: “Members of the public had reported seeing a cat wandering around by Goode Court which had been there for a couple of days and had a poorly eye.
“They called in Cats’ Protection who took it to Drybridge Vets in Coleford and then he was transferred to Severnside Vets.
“Cats’ Protection were brilliant and Mark has been a star.
“When I got the text, I thought it must have been Matata and I was worried that he might have been involved in an accident because of the eye.
“I can’t believe I’ve got him home after all this time.”
Acuna had been microchipped, meaning that he was easily identified and reunited with his owner.
He is settling in at Cookson Terrace, Lydney with Matata – the names come from The Lion King and together mean ‘no worries’ – and some completely new friends in the shape of Jake the cat and two dogs.
The 12-year-old cat had an operation on his eye at Severnside Vets and there is now a wait for test results following his adventures – Goode Court, where he was found, is about half a mile from where he disappeared in Springfield Road, Lydney.
Wendy said: “It’s lovely to have him home.”For more information about Cats Protection in the Forest, visit www.cats.org.uk/forest-of-dean