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A misplaced cat who went lacking greater than ten years in the past has lastly been reunited together with her household.
Whiskas, who’s 16 years old, was underweight and in a poor situation when she was discovered straying in Chilton Moor close to Houghton, a brief distance from the place she went lacking in 2013.
She was being fed by a kindly neighbour, who managed to achieve her belief and take her to a vet.
The vet discovered her out-of-date microchip originated from an RSPCA department within the North East.
Amazingly, Whiskas human companion of old, Linda Ellerton, noticed the submit and recognised the black and white feline, whom she had final seen in 2013.
She contacted the RSPCA and the charity’s animal rescue officer, David Dawson, was in a position to reunite them.
Whiskas has now settled in with Linda’s brother, David Jeffrey, who can supply her the care and the quiet life in her later years she deserves as Linda, herself, now has a big canine at her home.
She remembers how the rescue cat, whom she adopted after discovering her deserted beneath a hedge as a tiny kitten in Scotland in 2007, vanished from her massive backyard one night time.
Since her disappearance, Linda’s household have moved away from the realm to Hazelrigg close to Newcastle.
Linda stated: “When I saw the RSPCA Facebook post it mentioned the DH4 postal area where we’d lived and I thought it can’t possibly be Whiskas after all these years.
“I thought the photos looked like her, but it had been so long and we’d never thought we’d see her again.
“We microchipped Whiskas when we lived in Gateshead after we rescued her and another cat as kittens.
“They both went on to have litters with most of the cats having since been rehomed. We’d moved and Houghton and we had a few cats at that point and she just disappeared.
“We thought she had found somewhere else to live when she didn’t come in one night.”
She added: “I’ve been in touch with the gentleman who found her, apparently she was living in his garden shed, and we can’t thank him and the RSPCA enough.
“She is 16 and I’ve now got a dog, so it would be difficult for a cat her age to live with me, but my brother, David, was only too happy to take her and keep her in the family.
“When the RSPCA officer brought her to my brother’s, she came over to me straight away.”
David stated: “It was pleasing that we were able to reunite Linda with Whiskas after all these years. She had a cuddle with her and it was very emotional to see.
“The family had given up hope of seeing the cat again, but fortunately, the man who had been feeding her for several months was so concerned about her condition that he managed to get her to a vets.
“It is important that owners keep microchip details up to date when they move home as it makes the task of reuniting them with their pets so much easier.”
The RSPCA stated Whiskas has placed on weight and is making a great restoration after probably dwelling many years as a stray.
She is affected by a kidney drawback and can want ongoing vet remedy, which the RSPCA has suggested her proprietor about.
Under new Government laws, which was introduced in March final yr, from June 10, 2024 it is going to be a authorized requirement to microchip pet cats as soon as they attain 20 weeks of age.
Owners can even be required to maintain their contact particulars up-to-date on a pet microchipping database. Owners discovered to not have microchipped their cat could have 21 days to get one implanted or could face a tremendous of as much as £500.
This yr the RSPCA celebrates its 2 hundredth birthday. To mark this particular anniversary the animal welfare charity desires to encourage a million individuals to affix their motion to enhance animals’ lives. To discover out how one can be a part of their million-strong motion for animals go to www.rspca.org.uk/200.
