YOU recently published an advertisement regarding our lost cat, and I thought I would keep you up to date with the latest good news.
Our cat disappeared a month ago, I can almost pin point the hour he went missing. He had just had breakfast and had left the house in his usual way to visit our neighbours. It is not so much having two homes – he thinks he lives on one big estate that is all his territory.
He is very much a creature of habit and you could say he is a bit of a character but he always returned regularly throughout the day for a top up of food and always at night, but this particular day he did not return. My neighbours had not seen him either so we searched the roads, hedgerows and forest for him in case he had been run over and was injured or worse. Our neighbours checked all their outbuildings, but he was no-where to be seen.
This lead all of us to our worst fear, that either he had been kidnapped or had willingly boarded a vehicle with or without the driver's knowledge. He had already been seen a while ago boarding a Dutch vehicle but was caught just in time.
This was also the fear of the Cats Protection League who were very helpful with their advice and have good networks in place to offer assistance.
To our greatest surprise, however, on Friday I returned from shopping to a message from a vet's practice in Somerset who had had a request from a customer for the cat to be 'spayed', but upon investigation they were shocked to find he was actually a 'neutered' tom. Because of the confusion they then decided to scan him to see if he had been microchipped – thus their phone call to us to say he was alive and well and apparently ready to come home after his month-long adventure.
It was difficult explaining his welcome return to my grandson as you may well imagine, but of course he was very happy to see him again.
I guess we will never know what happened to him in those four weeks, but he had obviously been fed and cared for, which tinges the story with some sadness because possibly his temporary hosts are now without a cat. However he is now back home and for his own protection has been 'grounded' for a while.
When we first bought him (I had never paid for a cat before) we were advised by the Cats Protection League and my local vet to have him microchipped. We are so grateful we followed their advice, without which this would not have had a happy ending.
If only cats could talk!
Incidentally I would also like to say that when I placed the 'lost' advert in the Review how very courteous, and understanding the person that dealt with the matter was. Professionalism is not something we experience often these days. – Carol Dawson, Cannop, Coleford.