A family has been reunited with their cat that went missing for six years, after assuming their beloved pet had died.
The black cat named Jimi Hendrix went missing in August 2016 when he escaped from a friend's open window in Torquay, Devon, which left the Farmer family believing he had died.
Joanna Farmer and her husband Nik searched for Jimi but to no avail. However, he is back with his family after a rescue charity scanned his microchip and used Facebook to reunite them.
The couple moved away from Torquay and now live in Brixham, Devon, with their kitten and three children aged six, four and two - none of whom had ever met Jimi.
Joanna said: "I bought Jimi as a kitten when I lived in Southend in Essex. I wasn't actually a big fan of cats before him, but his nature was just so lovely we decided to get another one.
"Jimi was so affectionate, he'd be sitting on me all the time. When I was pregnant he'd sit on my bump, and when I had my son they were best friends - he really looked after my little boy.
"In the summer of 2016 my mum fell ill so we had to move in with her temporarily, but she had a dog so I had to give Jimi and his brother Frankie to a friend for a little while.
"He saw an open window in her bathroom and that was it, he was gone. It was horrible, absolutely heartbreaking."
The end of the six-year search for Jimi came by pure chance when a woman noticed a cat regularly sleeping on her doormat outside her house on her security camera in Babbacome.
She called Torquay-based charity Hector's House Cat Rescue, who captured the cat on Friday, October 14.
The charity scanned his microchip and discovered he had been flagged as missing six years ago, however, the details registered were all out of date so they posted an appeal on Facebook.
Zara Oldfield, who works at Hector's House Cat Rescue, said: "It was amazing, within an hour we had Joanne contact us.
"She was stunned, absolutely stunned. She thought he was long dead. She lives 15 miles away from Torquay so she came and saw him on Saturday morning.
"I recorded their meeting because I'm curious to see if cats recognise their owners after so long.
"At first he didn't have a clue but I advised her to keep talking, as sound and voice is what cats respond to the most.
"After about four minutes, he gave a her a long look and then he started headbutting her hand - he knew who she was."
Despite a change of scenery and a six-year wait to return home, Jimi has settled straight back with his family.
Joanne said: "Circumstances have changed, of course, I have three children and a new kitten now, but he's been absolutely fine.
"He lays on me like he used to, giving love and affection. He hasn't changed, he's just six years older. I'm still pinching myself, it's just incredible."
Following the remarkable incident, Hector's House Cat Rescue are urgine everyone to make sure their cats are microchipped.
Zara added: "If Jimi hadn't been microchipped, then he would still be out on the street and most likely would have never come home.
"This is a lesson in why you should microchip your pets. People never think their cat is going to go missing until it happens to them."
