Cat returns to owner after six months

Nov 19 2009 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A FAR-TRAVELLED cat has been reunited with his owners - after a six-month disappearance.

Sam went missing from his home at Eldrick Avenue in Fauldhouse on May 26, and his owners, sisters Karen and Margaret Nelson, had given up hope of seeing him again.

But the eight-year-old moggy has been returned to them after being found in Kinross.

Karen said: “Sam went out at night on May 26 and just never came back.

“A lot of cats from around our area have gone missing so I was sure that he had been stolen and when we didn’t hear anything for all those months, I didn’t think we would get him back.

“However, last week, my sister Margaret got a phone call from Kinross Cat Rescue, saying a cat had been found.

“They had checked his microchip and it was Sam.

“Apparently, a woman who runs kennels had seen him wandering about for a few months and had been feeding him and won his confidence enough to catch him and take him to the cat rescue people.”

Karen and Margaret say Sam seems none the worse for his experience and he seems happy to be back home with them and his sister Saffy.

But although they are delighted to have their pet back, the sisters say they are concerned that someone could be deliberately stealing and dumping cats.

“I think that someone is taking cats and then abandoning them,” said Karen. “Too many cats have disappeared round here for it to be a coincidence.

“Sam’s a very vocal cat and not friendly with strangers so there's no way he jumped into a van or car without someone hearing him.”

Karen said the experience made her realise how important it is to have pets microchipped and urged other owners to have their animals tagged.

“If Sam had not been microchipped, we would never have known what happened to him so I want to make sure that people know about the importance of having their pets microchipped,” she added.

“Without that and the kindness of the people who had rescued him, we would never have got him back.”