A County Durham couple have had an emotional reunion with their beloved cat after a remarkable six years apart when feline friend Georgie was found just moments from their front door.
Pauline and Trevor Robinson had given up hope of ever seeing cat Georgie again and they even had a plaque made in her memory. But this year an RSPCA inspector was called out to rescue a cat in distress just around the corner from their home in Pity Me.
Inspector John Lawson was called out to Front Street in the village after concerns over a cat that had been living in the bushes there but looked seriously underweight and had an open sore on her neck. Remarkably, it was Georgie and because she was microchipped, Inspector Lawson was able to reunite the family with their long, lost pet.
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Formerly a house cat, Georgie went missing in September 2016 after darting out of the window of the Robinson's home. Now she's back and preparing to meet the family's younger cats Charlie and Sabrina, along with dog Bree.
Georgie appears to have survived for at least two years on the streets in the area, being fed by kind strangers with tins of tuna.
Pauline said: "Georgie was eight when she went missing. We had her as a kitten from the same litter as another cat, Fudge, who has passed now. We were so upset we knocked on doors and put up posters for weeks to try and find her, but eventually we accepted that she wasn’t coming back and that she had probably died."
The couple were delighted to have her back, Pauline added. "“Maybe someone took her in for some of those years because I don’t think she would have survived living rough for that long," she said. "We’d been out one night and there was a card from the RSPCA put through the door saying they thought they’d found our cat. Once they described her to me I knew it was her.
"She went straight onto my knee as if she hadn’t been away - I had a few tears I must admit. The RSPCA has been tip-top and it does show that microchipping works."
Inspector Lawson said that when he found Georgie she was in a bad way - he needed to use a cat trap to rescue her and she was underweight and had fleas in addition to the open sore. Now she's recovering, though remains on a course of steroids.
The RSCPA inspector said: "Despite everything she was very friendly when we found her and she was so happy to see her owners - she didn’t move from Pauline’s knee. Georgie had been a house cat who never ventured out, until she got out through a window. It’s incredible she was living maybe just three streets away from Pauline and Trevor.
"It also demonstrates the importance of getting cats microchipped. Georgie would not have been reunited with her owners without one."
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