Missing cat reunited with owner after a decade apart

microchip cat
Clarke went missing in 2012, just weeks after being rescued Credit: Janet Dunbar

A cat from the Wirral who went missing more than a decade ago, has been reunited with his owner thanks to his microchip.

Owner Janet Dunbar, 59, adopted two cats, Clarke and Scarlett, from her local rescue in 2012. Just six weeks after bringing them home, Clarke ran away. Janet desperately searched everywhere for him - posting flyers and scouring social media in the hope that someone would take him to the vets to be scanned.

Janet continued to search but with no luck. A couple of years later in 2016, Janet and Scarlett moved homes from the Wirral to Sandbach in Cheshire.

Janet said: “I moved away from the area but Clarke was always in our thoughts. I always thought Clarke had been taken in – as the alternative did not bear thinking about... I kept hope that maybe one day I'd have him back.”

Clarke is now settling into his new home in Cheshire, after a decade away from his owner Credit: Janet Dunbar

Then, eleven years after Clarke first went missing, Janet received a call from the vets in Prenton, the Wirral, that Clarke had been found just ten minutes from the home he had run away from a decade ago.

Janet said: “Out of the blue I received a call from the vet telling me they think they have my cat.

“I can't explain the emotions that were going through me at the time... I immediately drove and got him once the vet gave him the all clear. I have to be honest, I really didn't know how to feel, I think I went into shock. I had so many questions running through my mind. However, I knew I had to just get him and deal with things as they happened. I'm still getting over!''

Since returning home last month, Clarke has disappeared once more, prompting owner Janet to put out more appeals on social media. But for now, he's back where he belongs and Janet says he's now 'grounded for quite sometime'.

Bill Lambert, spokesperson for Petlog, commented: “We’re so pleased that Clarke and Janet have been reunited because of his microchip, and their story is a great lesson for owners to keep their contact details up to date with their microchip database no matter how much time has passed.

A microchip is the size of a grain of rice which is inserted under the skin at the back of an animal’s neck. It permanently identifies pets and connects them with an owner’s contact details.

Currently, it is a legal requirement for all dogs to be microchipped in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The UK Government has announced the intention to make microchipping compulsory for cats in England by summer 2024.