One-eyed cat found under car bonnet after 150-mile Gateshead to Fife adventure

Josie had surgery to remove her eye because vets thought it might be cancerous. Credit: MEDIA SCOTLAND

A one-eyed cat was found under a car bonnet in Fife more than 150 miles from home 10 days after going missing.

When Josie the tabby cat sneaked out of her home in Gateshead on September 22, her owner Amy Bosworth thought she would never see her elderly pet again.

"I've been out twice a day searching for her and thought that was the last time I'd seen her so I was devastated," Ms Bosworth said.

10 days later, she got a call to say Josie had been found - 150 miles away in Scotland.

Garage worker Conor Crawford had driven to work in Kirkcaldy on Saturday 1 October when he noticed a burning smell coming from the car.

He opened his bonnet to check the engine, and Josie jumped out.

Apart from a little weight loss and a burn to her tail, the tabby was otherwise unhurt.

The moment Amy was reunited with her beloved cat. Credit: MEDIA SCOTLAND

Mr Crawford's partner Deni, 26, who works as an animal care assistant at St Clair Vet Group, spent an hour asking neighbours if Josie belonged to any of them before taking her to be scanned for a microchip.

The feline's chip showed she was registered in England, prompting an urgent search for her owner.

Deni said: "She must have been terrified because she tried to bite me. I took her straight to my work.

"We scanned her microchip and the database said the owners were in England so we thought maybe they had moved to Fife.

"We couldn't believe it when we realised she had travelled all the way to Scotland. We're guessing she must have got stuck in a car or van and ended up here.

"She's definitely got nine lives."

Amy at home in Gateshead with Josie the tabby cat. Credit: MEDIA SCOTLAND

Ms Bosworth said she burst into tears when she got the call to say Josie, who had belonged to her late parents, had been found.

Josie had undergone surgery to have her eye removed four weeks before and her owner has no idea how the elderly pet made it to Scotland.

"She must have more than nine lives," she said. "To survive that trip at her age and after surgery is a miracle. Who knows how she got to Fife."

"I guess she wanted an adventure in her old age!"

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