CHRISTMAS has come early for cat owner Sophie Jarvis who has been reunited with her cat who went missing two and a half years ago.

The power of social media brought the former Lydney woman and her black and white moggy, Mylo, together after she failed to update his microchip contact details.

She said: “I realised Mylo went missing in February 2013 and emailed Forest Cats Protection the next day. He then went off the radar.

“I also went looking for him and put up posters and used social media and the Cats Protection to try and find him but he disappeared. Little did I know he was being fed by a lady who lived a five-minute walk away from my home.

“I gave up all hope of finding him and in October 2014 I moved to Gloucester.”

Staff at Cats Protection received a call from a lady who had been feeding two cats for around six months.

Joyce Moss at Cats Protection said: “Winter was coming and she was worried about where the cats would shelter as she couldn’t keep them in the house. As always, the pens were full, so the cats would have to be added to the waiting list.

“A volunteer called round to scan the cats to see if they were microchipped. Much to her surprise, both were and checks on the database produced two names and contact details. But the details weren’t correct and an appeal was made on our Facebook page to find her. She came forward and was thrilled to find that one of the cats was hers.

“She came down to Lydney the next day to collect him.”

Cat Protection are urging people not to feed a ‘stray’ cat unless they are prepared to continue doing so and can offer it some shelter against the weather. If not they should call Cats Protection and visit a local vet to see if it has a microchip.

Joyce added: “Thanks to people in the area, Cats Protection has re-homed 111 domestic and 31 feral cats this year.”