Port Sunlight cat missing for a year is reunited with owner

A cat has been reunited with his delighted owner thanks to the RSPCA – after he went missing a YEAR ago!

Black cat Rupert went missing from his home in Port Sunlight back in May last year when he left the family house as usual – but never returned.

His owner, Katie Parkinson, was frantic that her pet hadn’t come home and over the next few months she went looking for him, had posters printed, did social media appeals and called round vets and the local council to see if anyone had spotted him – but she had no luck.

After months of not hearing anything about him she assumed the worst had happened but hoped he had been taken in and was somewhere being cared for. 

Then exactly a year later RSPCA rescuer, inspector Anthony Joynes called Katie last week and broke the unexpected news Rupert had been found – two miles away from his home in Bebington – had been rescued and was safe and well in his care.

Katie, an IT specialist at Unilever, couldn’t believe the news and was so overcome with emotion she immediately burst into tears. 

It turned out Rupert had been spotted as a stray and a member of the public was concerned he had an injured paw so she called the RSPCA.

Anthony tracked Rupert down to Asterfield Avenue and found a caring resident in the area had been feeding him and taking care of him but that the pet would not go in his house and was not keen on human interaction.

Anthony took him to a nearby vet so his paw could be checked out and while there he scanned him saw he was microchipped and was able to identify Katie as his owner.

Katie said, “When he called I was gobsmacked. I just burst into tears as I really thought he was never coming home. I had tried for months to find him.

“He knew exactly who I was and it is obvious he has missed me as he just won’t let me out of his sight or leave me alone. He keeps kissing me like he used to and likes to lie in my hair.

“I am now spoiling him rotten and he clearly loves being back at home.

“His paw was slightly injured probably from a cat bite but he was given antibiotics and apart from that is really well. 

Anthony said, “We have had cats reunited with their owners after they have been missing a few weeks or months – but the fact Rupert has been missing for a year came as quite a surprise.

“I am just so glad he is back home as he has clearly been missed and Katie was over the moon to get him back. It is certainly a nicer part of my job.

“He was found about two miles from where he went missing so  must have ventured too far and was then not able to find his own way back.

“This really does highlight why microchipping your pet is so important and it is vitally important to tell the chip company yourself if any contact details change. If the contact details are out of date the chip is completely useless. We see many cases where we would love to reunite microchipped cats with their owner but can’t because the details have not been updated.

“It is heartbreaking to lose a pet but if they’re microchipped then there is much more of a chance that they will be found and make their way back home to you.”

It is a legal requirement to have dogs microchipped and this week it was announced that microchipping pet cats will become compulsory under a wide-ranging animal welfare plan. 

The Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare – which the RSPCA has been instrumental in campaigning for – also includes measures to ban exporting live animals for slaughter, the keeping of primates as pets and importing hunting trophies.

Microchipping is a very quick and easy procedure. It involves a tiny microchip being quickly and simply inserted under the animal’s skin and this then gives the pet their own unique code.  It is also relatively cheap so there is really no reason why an owner should not take the time to chip their pets.

The microchip can be scanned and matched to the owner’s contact details which are kept on a database.

Thousands of pets are lost every year and many are never reunited with their owners but microchipping can help to change that. While collars and tags can get caught or removed – microchipping identifies pets permanently and effectively.

If an owner moves house or changes their telephone number they must make sure that they tell the database they are registered with so that they have up-to-date contact details.

For more information about microchipping, visit the RSPCA website: www.rspca.org.uk/microchipping.