A couple whose cats vanished from their home on England's east coast have appealed for help after one of them was found 400 miles away in Scotland. Toni Jarvis and Ben Smith's four-year-old moggies Duchess and Queenie went missing from their front garden and extensive local searches failed to trace them.
But to their delight Duchess was found in Glasgow and brought home to Great Yarmouth after her microchip revealed her details. Toni has pleaded for help tracking down Queenie who is still missing since disappearing in August.
The health support worker had used Facebook and made posters as she desperately searched for her beloved pets. However, to her joy, the Cats Protection Anglia Coastal Branch received a call from Glasgow in October revealing Duchess had been found.
She was discovered roaming in the city and taken to a vet by a lady who assumed she was lost. An appeal has now been launched in the hope of getting Queenie home for Christmas.
Toni said: "I remember the day they went missing as if it were yesterday. We had to go out and both cats were playing in the front garden. We wouldn't be out long, so my partner Ben said let's leave them to play.
"I felt oddly nervous, but I left anyway. With hindsight, I should have trusted my instincts. When we got back the cats were nowhere to be seen. I knocked on my neighbour's door and she said she seen two workmen in our street fussing over both cats but since they had gone, she hadn't seen the cats.
"I called their names repeatedly as normally they would come running home, but nothing. I waited until after the school run and asked everyone on my road if they had seen them and no one had so we went looking for them, walking and calling their names for over two hours but there was neither sight nor sound of them.
"It was very odd that they had both gone missing." Toni added: "I was at work when Ben called to say Duchess had been found. I remember asking if it was real, I couldn't believe him.
"I was crying down the phone, with my colleagues asking if I was ok and Ben telling me to calm down. I had to wait for another phone call an hour later when he had more details. It felt like a lifetime."
Ben and Toni believe the inseparable pair might have followed each other into misadventure and hope Queenie could be in Glasgow. Toni said: "All we can assume is that they stowed away together aboard a van and the driver didn't realise they were there.
"That's why we hope Queenie might still be found. Duchess is very playful but she does seem to be missing her sister. She's not her usual self but our kids are trying to make her feel like everything is normal. But nothing beats playing with your sister.
"The only downside to our joy is that Queenie is still missing. We would love Queenie to come home to us. We appeal for anyone with any information to please get in touch. It would be a Christmas miracle."
Cat Protection volunteer Lynne Pothecary said: "When the situation was explained Ben was very shocked and pleased to find out that Duchess had been found. He and his partner had thought that the cats were gone for good.
"They couldn't believe she'd been found so far away in Scotland and couldn't imagine how she got there. Duchess' return to her family is credit to the cat being microchipped. That is the hope for Queenie, that she might be traced by her microchip.
"Our Cats Protection team in Glasgow has appealed for any information but we didn't hear anything positive so far. If anyone in Glasgow can help us locate Queenie, please get in touch."
Anyone with information about Queenie should contact Cats Protection's Anglia Coastal Branch at publicity@angliacoastal.cats.org.uk.
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