A cat-lover in Britain has said it was “an utter relief” to be reunited with his missing pet after five years thanks to microchip technology.
David Blane, from north London, had lost all hope of seeing his cat Zeke again, and was “in a total state of shock” to hear he had been handed in as a stray 30 miles away in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.
“I had resigned myself to the fact that I would never get him back, so to get that call out of the blue was utterly amazing,” Mr Blane said.
“You don’t expect to hear that your cat has been found safe and well five years after he has gone missing.
“It was an utter relief to hear that Zeke was OK.”
Mr Blane, who lives in Haringey, leafleted the neighbourhood when Zeke went missing and registered him on the pet alert service PetLog.
Five years later Zeke was handed in as a stray and scanned for a microchip but vets were unable to reach the seven-year-old Maine Coon cat’s registered owner.
Zeke was then placed with Cats Protection’s north Hertfordshire branch, where co-ordinator Bianca Kubler said: “He was dishevelled and his coat was quite dirty when he arrived but he was a healthy 9kg boy with an insatiable hunger and, despite needing five teeth removed and a good bath, he was in good health.”
“I felt so sad for Zeke as he seemed depressed, we really needed to find his owner if we were to put the spark back into Zeke’s spirit,” Ms Kubler said.
She expanded her search to breeder and lost Maine Coon cat websites.
“We were starting to lose hope by the end of a long weekend of constant searching, but my partner decided to ring the number on the microchip one last time. To our total surprise, a man answered,” she said.
“He was in a total state of shock when we said that we’d found his cat, Zeke.”
“It was utterly fantastic to see him again. Words can’t describe that feeling,” Mr Blane said.
“He follows me around and it seems he definitely remembers me. It’s amazing to have my baby boy back. He’s more affectionate than I remember, which is good… previously he could be a bit aloof but now he comes for cuddles and plays a lot more.
“I’d like to thank John and all the volunteers at Cats Protection’s north Herts branch – they do fantastic work and really have made a massive difference to my life by reuniting me with my baby – now giant – boy.
“It’s the best Christmas present I could ever imagine.”
