Cat Missing For 10 Years Reunited With Owner
Published: August 20, 2007
A missing cat has been reunited with her owner….more than TEN years after she tip-toed out of her Hampshire home.
Patricia Charnet’s cat Lynx went missing in February 1997, never returning after she went out into the garden at her home in Hook.
Mrs Charnet finally gave up hope she would ever be reunited with domestic short haired tortie-tabby Lynx after five years.
However, amazingly, earlier this week the elusive Lynx, now aged 12, was found by a farmer in Carterton in Oxfordshire…60 miles from Hook.
Carers at animal charity BlCat Missing For 10 Years Reunited With Ownerue Cross were able to use a microchip inserted in Lynx’s back 10 years ago to trace her back to her astonished owner.
Mrs Charnet, originally from France, said: “I really can’t believe it. It’s so strange for her to be back with me.
“It’s like a small miracle because she was missing for so long and also the fact that I haven’t moved home, because if I had then Blue Cross would never have found me. I never imagined that I would see her again.”
When Lynx went walkabout Tony Blair was yet to enter Downing Street and Princess Diana was still alive.
Mrs Charnet added: “I remember she came in to eat on an afternoon around February or March in 1997, and then she went into the garden. But she never came back.
“I still hoped we would see her again for about five years, but after that I gave up hope.
“Then when Blue Cross rang and said they had my cat because of the chip, I simply couldn’t believe it. If we hadn’t had her chipped we never would have seen her again.”
Lynx’s activities and whereabouts for the last decade remain a “mystery”.
Mrs Charnet believes someone may have had taken her in.
She said: “We will never know what she got up to, unless someone comes forward. If only she could speak, I’m sure she’d have quite a story.”
Mrs Charnet, who has lived in the UK for 20 years, said: “I thought it might be strange to have her back, but it really is like she has never been away, she’s eating loads like she always used to.
“She’s settled back in so well - she really is a wonderful cat. It’s brilliant to finally have her home, though my other cat doesn’t think so - there’s been a lot of hissing.”
Mandy Jones, head of companion animal welfare at Blue Cross, described the reunion as “remarkable”.
She said: “We take in quite a lot of strays and I’ve heard of some going missing and then going back to owners after couple of years. But I have never seen a cat back with its owner after ten years.
“Often there are sad stories with cats because they go missing and owners can never even know what happened to them.
“This shows the importance of having cats micro-chipped - we’re always so happy to get them back to owners.”
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