Returned 5 Years Later

Reunion Story of the Year 2022

Both of my cats were stolen.

I ended up moving to a different town 70kms away, I got a new cat and tried to move on.Late one day, almost 5 years to the day they went missing, I had a call from a vet to say my cat Tinka had gotten out, was distressed and they had him safe at their clinic.I told them he had been missing for 5 years.I went in the next morning and he was hiding under the blanket in the vet cage.I called him and he came straight to me, as I opened the door he jumped onto my chest, put his paws on my shoulders and hugged into my neck.We were all in tears!! Tinka had the same collar on, that he was wearing the day he was taken.

It was great to have him home, now I wait for Bling to show up. Tinka has resettled, gotten to know his brother Elton and they are great mates.I am so grateful Tinka was microchipped or I would never have seen him again.

- Sue

Christmas Ordeal

It was a very hot Christmas Day this year when my 13 yo son, our two golden girls, Macie & Skye, and I went to the Murray river for a dip. We've been to this place thousand times before, it's an island with a small one lane wooden white bridge, secluded and safe. The girls took off to their favourite spot with low hanging tree branches projecting over murky water hemmed in by shrubs, while Kieran set his heart on jumping off the bridge. Wanting to make sure he was safe, I took my eyes off the dogs for about 10-15 min. The lack of noise from the excited dogs, such an unusual silence, made me conscious. Telling Kieran to wait, I went to check on the dogs, but they were gone.
 
We looked for over 3 hours. No trace. Two dogs. Small island. Where could they go? How could they BOTH disappear?! A white van with 2 blokes camping by the river caught my attention (there were few things that alerted me). I approached their site. One of the men assured me that they had not seen anything, promised to give me a call if they do but did not take my number. After dark, that van, the whole camping site that looked as a rather permanent set up was gone. Next morning when we came back there were piles dog hair left on site. I wish I could go into all the details, however what's important is how the local community came to help raising awareness through social media, sharing the post and staying on a look out. We marked them as missing and possibly stolen on CAR. So many people came to the site searching for our girls over the next days.
 
Luckily, we found the van, had a conversation. Interestingly, still denying any involvement, we were questioned whether our dogs were microchipped, which they both were. The very next morning Skye and Macie were left at exactly the same spot where we found the van and the licence plate does not exist anymore.As I 'm writing, it's been almost 24 hours since their return. They both are dehydrated and exhausted, Macie can barely walk, doesn't lift her head much and mostly sleeps. Even though they clearly have been through a terrible ordeal, we know that our girls will recover and get better. It is still very raw to share our story, all I can share is the feeling of such a relief to have them back and a joy to have a happy end to the story.

- Ena

My Cat Is Home After Missing 2 Months

My cat went missing 24/10/22. She normally goes for a few days and comes back. However, not this time. Despite posters, Facebook posts, pound and vet checks couldn't be found. I did late night walks, calling and calling. Checked the cat pictures online at the pound. Tagged her as missing with Central Animal Records, every possible thing I could do.

Then a miracle, I received a phone call 21/12/2022 , almost 2 months since she went missing, it was the pound saying that my cat was there, and her microchip matches my details. I'm so glad she was microchipped as I feel if she wasn't this story wouldn't have a happy ending.

- Jenny

Found By An Early Morning Car Accident

Pepsi ran away from my parent's house in a strange town on a Friday. We searched the immediate area for hours into the afternoon. With no luck finding her, we returned to our home (100kms away). The next morning we travelled back to search again with no joy.

On Sunday morning I received a phone call at 04:55 - "Are you the owner of Pepsi - I'm sorry, but I have just hit her with my car". I asked the lady to get Pepsi to a vet and that my wife and I would be there soon. At 05:55 we arrived at the vet to see Pepsi in a distressed state with severe concussion and (thankfully) no broken bones. Because Pepsi is shy, we feel that if she hadn't been "found" by the driver, we may never have seen her again.

- David

Close To Home

Our ragdoll cat was last seen on a Wednesday evening. On the off occasion he manages to get out, he is normally waiting at the door early morning, looking for breakfast.

Alas, even two days later he had not appeared and we were very worried. We had the neighbours looking, we logged on Lost Pet sites on FB and of course, registered with CAR, so any vets could see he was listed as missing. As a long shot I went to visit my elderly neighbour, 96 and now with dementia.

I asked if by any chance he had the cat. Whilst he was vehemently denying it and chuckling about why would he have my cat, Boz appeared from under a curtain, meowing repeatedly to be liberated!

- Carrie

Separation By Fire

This is more a story of about the anxiety of separation from a much loved pet as the result of a bushfire.

During the Currowan (Black Summer) Fire in the Shoalhaven, I was serving as a volunteer firefighter with Bawley Point RFS Brigade and on the morning that the fire cut the Princes Highway, I was on duty at the Brigade's Fire Station.

When I responded to the call out that morning I had no idea that later that day the highway would be cut and remain inaccessible, except to emergency vehicles for up to 5 days.

Upon learning that the fire had caused the highway to be closed I asked and was granted permission from my Captain to try and get home (almost 23klms away) to get my dog, Chesnut (a female cavador) who was home alone, as I thought I would only be away for around 8-12 hours.

When I reached the highway I was informed by police that I had to turn back as the highway was closed with restricted access to emergency vehicles. I turned my car around and returned to the fire station. When asked by my captain what happened, I explained the situation. The captain then told me to take the Personnel Carrier (PC - Ford Bronco) to get Chesnut, as the fire was moving towards my home.

I jumped into the PC and with the red&blues flashing headed back towards the highway, where the police immediately waved me through. The highway was thick with smoke, but the fire had not yet reached or crossed the highway.

I made it home to find Chesnut at my front gate, clearly pleased to see me and I scooped her up and threw her into the PC's cabin with me and together we headed back to the fire station.

On the return trip the fire had reached the edge of the highway, but not yet across it. When we got back to the station, little did I know then that Chesnut and I would have to spend the next 5 days there, completely cut off from our home. Needless to say, I never again left Chesnut at home alone ever again during a call out.

- Stew

Missing For 18 Months

Sully was never really an outdoor cat and wasn't a fan of all the scary noises outside. He suddenly went missing one day.
 
We put up flyers and searched the bush where we lived with no luck. We moved house and all but always kept him registered as missing. 18 months later we get a call from a cat rescue place that he was there.
 
He was triple in size in both weight and height as he only went missing a little over a year old and so we knew he had been well looked after. He is now home with us and has been for 3 weeks now settling in nicely ❤️

- Kelsie

The Grass Is Greener

Darth, Missing for 3 weeks. We searched neighbors yards, put up over 20 posters and posted over 300 flyers throughout our locality. We drove the streets at dusk and walked the streets with Darth's brother (meowing) all the way.
 
We informed the council, refuge and local vets of his disappearance. We put a cat trap on the other side of our fence.Very little of the above actually worked. He had made it about 1km away and had set up home in someone's boat.
 
After 2 weeks he was in their house sharing their cat's food. Luckily they thought to take him to a vet to scan his chip. Voila - The vet called us immediately and Darth is back with his family :) Our sincerest thanks to Darth's surrogate family and all involved.

- Bob

Pixel's Story

My boy went missing on the 6th of August from an open back door. Being an 11 year old overly friendly kittyman, I was bereft.
 
I've had him his whole life and my daughter had never known life without him. It was bin day, he had disappeared during the night and thusly our family feared the worst.
 
Nearly 2 MONTHS LATER, on the 29th sept I got a call from AAPS saying that someone had brought our boy in and that the chip details matched mine. It was the strangest thing because I don't usually answer numbers I don't recognise or listen to voicemails but that day, despite a whole lot of small inconveniences, I did. Lo and behold my miracle man was skinny but safe.
 
Microchip your babies, keep their details up to date, it could save their life and in our particular situation it saved mine too. He was picked up on the 1st of October after a solid effort from friends and family to help me pay the vet bill and get him home asap. Our home is whole again!

- Tamara

Lost Over Night

My gorgeous girl, Lilly, somehow got out of our backyard with the other 2 dogs. The other 2 came back, but cheeky Lilly took off. We went looking for her and we found her down a street by the where she ran into a construction site.

We tried for an hour in the dark at 1:30am and got my daughter to help as her husband had a spot light on the ute, but we still couldn't see her due to the very high grass.

Once it was daylight, we went looking again... still nothing. We asked around and eventually a construction worker found her and handed her over to some lovely people who must have heard our dogs barking and put two and two together.

They knocked on our door and it was Lilly. I was so happy to see her as I had been so worried about her. I couldn't thank the people enough.

- Helen

Panda Comes Home From Bush Adventure

Panda went missing in thick bushland near our home. She didn't have her collar on. We searched late into the night and commenced again at dawn the next morning. She had disappeared. We feared the worst. That afternoon, after she'd been missing for 24 hours, we got a call from a vet about 10km from home. A Good Samaritan had found panda and handed her in to their local vet. The vet contacted us thru the microchip. Otherwise I doubt we would have seen her again.

- Georgina

Small World

Yesterday 23 August 2022 my dog Hunter had went missing with my parents dog Blitz. They were last seen roaming a street 1 street away from my parents house at 3 pm due to our large gates had been opened. My mum had gotten a call yesterday just before 6pm to say that blitz has been picked up and taken to a vet about 30 minutes from where we live. Picked blitz up this morning and I was still worried about my dog as we haven't heard anything. We had posted everywhere to find him.
 
This afternoon about 5-10 minutes after I got home from work and just before I was going to go out and put flyers up everywhere, I heard a little boy talking loud out the front going up my street, i had seen something fluffy with the boy and it turned out to be Hunter, this amazing indigenous boy told me how he had found Hunter and how him and his friends went back to find Blitz. He was telling me everything that had happened. He was even going to get his mum to call RSPCA. He even told me how he lives two houses up from me which was amazing. I can't thank that boy enough.

- Jaymee-Leigh

My Buddy, Allie Kat, Came Home

After 18 days of Allie Kat missing during a wet, stormy winter, she literally walked back in the door by herself.
 
I had all of the alerts out, searching the area, posters and letterboxes, vets alerted.We had moved to a new area 2 months prior. She had been happiest inside, but was beginning to venture out with me for a bit of gardening. Then on a night time outdoor toilet visit, she went AWOL.
 
I was heartbroken, this is the furry friend who rescued me through Melbourne's lockdowns. She was microchipped, council registered, and de-sexed.
 Lots of hoping and lonely nights later, she is happily sitting on her rug. Minus one of her 9 lives, I think.

- Vivienne

Home Again

We moved to Sunbury in January and kept Sev in for a week. Jill opened the door and he went in and out for a few hours before jumping the fence and not to be seen.
 
Unfortunately Jill was going through Chemo and devastated to have lost a bit of comfort. We kept looking but to no avail. Jill passed away late July but I never gave up hope and kept searching and watching Facebook.
 
Then he appeared on the site after 7 months and immediately identified by his forehead and white sox. He is now back home, purring and no weight loss. He is a true survivor and supports the fact of never giving up hope and being microchipped.

- Gregory

Billy's Adventure

Billy is a beautiful, big, laid-back friendly cat. He is not quite three years old, and has just returned to us after going missing six months ago.
 
We really thought we would never see him again. Billy was never content to be inside, even though we kept him in for nearly six months from the time we adopted him as a 10 week old kitten. Then one day, he was missing for two days, then three, then a week, until it became months. And although we hadn't all together given up hope, having seen stories of cats coming home after months or even years, we thought he was gone for good.
 
Then today, out of the blue, a local council ranger turned up at the door and asked if we were looking for Billy. We couldn't believe it! Billy was microchipped, and from that they were able to find where his home was and return him safely to us. He was in good condition. Apparently he was found at a caravan park about three kilometers away, were he had made lots of friends who fed him lots of food.
 The value of the microchip and registration was proved! Please have your pet microchipped and registered if you love your pet.

- Patricia

My Heart Is Whole Again

After jumping out of a moving car 3.5 years ago. Chappy has been found 40km from where he was lost!!
 
I have moved to QLD and never really gave up hope he would be ok and found one day in VIC. I received the call from the RSPCA and after that long, he has been found alive and well.
 
He is being picked up by a friend today and I will get to see my baby boy again. Chappy will be 11 this November.
 
He was dumped in the bush around Christmas of 2011. I rescued him and loved him for 7 years so I am so glad he is safe! I am so glad I updated my contact details and marked him as missing through Central Animal Records! 

- Rachael

A Little Cat & A Big World

Indy lives indoors and loves to try and get outside. She loves to play in the garden supervised. I think she may have escaped through the dog door and was missing for five days.
 
There were some sightings and I had walked the streets at all hours every day and night calling and calling. I had posted flyers in our street through our neighbours letterboxes and talked to the neighbours.
 
The night before we were reunited there was a cat scuffle at the top of our driveway. Then the following day our next door neighbour said Indy was in her back yard. I saw where she had gone (under our neighbours house) and waited next door with her Jerky as its her favourite treat.
 
After a couple of sightings where she ran through the fence again I was able to catch her by enticing her with fresh Jerky. I have posted on every social media Lost Pets page, listed her with Pet Finders, listed her missing with CAR, posted numerous fliers.
 
The best advice I can offer for missing indoor cats is talk to your neighbours and post fliers in the street. They often don't go far.
 
Microchipping offers great peace of mind. I rang every shelter and local vet. They all said if she is bought in she'll be checked for a microchip and I'd be called. Listing her as missing means no one can claim they have purchased her or that she is their cat. I carried her the 40ft home and she ate some wet food and is laying on my heating pad.
 
I opened the side door and she ran up to try and go through the door and outside to play even after her adventure, so she seems fine. Knowing she was microchipped helped me believe she would be found.
 
Our neighbour also had a Staffy, a cat and 2 chickens! What an inquisitive little cat to go and stay at least part of the time in our neighbours yard with their dog, cat and chickens! Indy is brave, adventurous and athletic and also very much a cat that is resourceful and careful.
 
Many many thanks to all the kindness that our neighbours have shown and to everyone that shared her story and offered to help. Indys sisters are a 5 year old Bengal and a Staffy whose nearly 10. Both are very glad she's home as are all her human friends and family.

- Jackie

Our Boy Made His Final Escape

...or so we thought.

We were devastated when scruff went missing, he's done this 100 times but not for a few years. He's 18, deaf, nearly blind. Went missing on Queens birthday weekend, 2.5 hrs away from where we live. We looked everywhere for him. But had to go home 6 days later. We were only supposed to be away for the long weekend. Heartbreaking. We put up flyers, contacted local radio, newspaper, Facebook, vets, councils, gave details to all neighbours (very few due it being remote). We had to leave without him.

In the back of my mind I thought he may still be alive, but was 14 days later. 😔 We just had dinner and the phone went, "do you have a dog named scruff?" I just about screamed down the phone "YES.... is he alive?" We didn't even give them the chance to say pick him up tomorrow, we were in the car and on our way.About 3 hours later, we arrived, when I saw him I was even more devastated, he'd lost all weight and was all bones. I cried and cried. Gathering up in my arms and put home in the car thanked them. Drove home.Took him to the vets the following day who gave me great advice. I wouldn't leave him there, and stayed by his side for the next 2 weeks. Feeding him small amounts, often, as often as he would eat. He lost most of his claws, sore paws, slept for the first 3 days. It was so good to have him home. Was touch and go. But he is happy, warm and safe now. 

- Paula

Oscar Comes Home

I received a call last week from a vet in Fitzroy who had had a cat handed in. He had been wondering alone for quite a while near a vacant property and did not appear to have an owner. They gave me his microchip number as it came up in the records that I was the breeder, so I could look up who I had sold him to.

I contacted the owner who had not changed the microchip details to her own name and address. She was delighted to find him as he had been missing for six months.She went to collect him and was delighted to be reunited with him after so long. He is now back safely with his ‘mum’ and feline friend. 

- Loraine

The Long Night To Home

We got a call at 9pm. We could see her but couldn’t get to her. Ashlynn, Arabella & I tried to get her close to the fence but she was so frightened she kept running and hiding; we made the hard call to leave at 11pm and hope to come back at 6 am when we could get through the fence, when the business opened.

Then, a text at 3:45 am from security alerting me that she was running out from under the fence and down the main road. Almost hit by a car, it frightened our Becks back into the secured site and the ambulance driving by saw her and called security to tell him she was in their area and then he text me again saying she was back!!

By this stage I was there. This time it was quiet, I had her blanket and food. I slowly, and quietly whispered to her to coax her to the fence, it took some time but she soon crawled under to me. As I grabbed her I text the security man to tell him he was an angel. But, it wasn’t until we got home I realised she had trusted me to climb under the fence, but I don’t think she realised I was mum because she was still in flight mode.

When I took her to smell Giggsy at home in our room, that’s when she realised where she was. She knew she was safe and became a barrel of energy, wagging her tail like we’ve not seen since we got her. I was getting kisses like I’ve never received from a little dog ever!We calmed down, snuggled into bed for a quick hour nap before I had to be up at 5am then she ate, drank and slept again. The contentment of getting her back ran deep. The powers of social media helped along with a concerned community and 3 Good Samaritans helped us find her. I will certainly catch up with them to thank them properly on the weekend. And Becks is not allowed outdoors unsupervised till we figure this fence situation out, because she of obviously an escape artist!

- Lovina

Held Hostage By Another Cat

Dusty had been missing for over 24 hours and I was worried as he usually stays close to the house. I went to the dogs home and marked him missing on Central Animal Records.
  
 I was washing dishes and was looking out the window that looks out to the side of the house we do not use when I noticed the young male cat from down the road hissing at something. I knew it was my cat. It took a bit to scare the other cat off and found my 12 year old cat holed up in a corner. This cat had him bailed up. If your cat goes missing just check out any cats that visit your garden.  

- CAR Pet Owner

Axel Goes For A Ride

On the 25th January 2022, Axel snuck out the front door to get some sunshine, he was a strictly indoor cat but he took advantage of the door not being closed properly.
 
45 mins later it starts to rain heavily so he hides under my friends car to get away from it. She then left to go 15km away with axel still hiding under her car. When she stopped he jumped out and ran off. After frantically searching for weeks and weeks there was no sign of him.
 
Fast forward to 1st of June and a random post appears of a missing cat hiding under bushes near where he went missing. I raced down there and the ladies that saw him said he ran off when they tried to catch him.I sat in my car for 5 mins just waiting to see if he would come out. Out of the corner of my eye I see something walking through the school across the road. It was Axel!
 
I sprint over calling out his name, he stopped and turned and stared at me then started doing his body rub thing on a bench seat until I walked over and picked him up. Squeezed him so tightly in my arms and he was chirping with happiness. I can’t believe he was out on his own for all this time. So happy he’s now home.

- Hayley 

Moving House With Merlot

Merlot is an Australian Manx with a stumpy tail, she is 13 years old and I have owned her since she was a kitten. Australian Manxs are a very small breed and bred for ratting; Merlot is not typically a wanderer, can navigate even unfamiliar territory pretty well and enjoys spending her days out in the backyard, napping in the sun.
 
We had only just moved into the house and the same night Merlot decided to play games between our house and 4 doors up. We live in a new estate so the majority of houses are still being built. After spending days moving house prior, we were exhausted and went to bed, leaving Merlot outside. She was nowhere to be found the next morning.
 
We walked around the neighbourhood, calling her name and shaking a container with biscuits, to no avail. I trolled Facebook for community groups and posted. My post was shared and then another post was shared with me from a different page/group from a neighbour stating that night she had been at their back door persisting to come in and seemed confused, til the early hours of the morning.
 
We did another walk around of the neighbourhood that night, with no luck.
 
The next day I posted to Lost Pet Finders and from their advice I put some soiled litter in the front garden and her dry food bowl out the front. We walked around the neighbourhood that night again calling her name and shaking the container, still nothing.
 
Exhausted and very emotional/upset, devastated to have to tell my son she'd gone missing when I saw him again on the following Tues, we went to bed around 9:30pm.
 
10:30pm I woke to a "meow". But after a couple of days without her we were sure we'd been hallucinating and hearing her meow for days. I sat and listened again, and another "meow", I grabbed my partner's arm and said "Merlot", he stirred dazed and confused. I climbed out of bed to another "meow", shaking and in shock I saw her face through the front door.
 
She was very apprehensive at first as it was a new house but came in and joined us to then keep us up all night meowing and wanting attention.
 Merlot is a very vocal cat and now enjoys remaining in our yard.

- Laura 

4 Weeks Of The Unknown

26th April was a normal routine day. Wake up, get daughter ready for school, feed Pixel and let her outside for a play. Only that afternoon wasn't like the routine we were used to. I usually get welcomed home when Pixel hears my car, but not today. I went back on the security cameras and unfortunately the last she was seen was 11:20am.
 
She was gone. But where!? We spent endless hours looking and handed out flyers and put up posters, posts on social media and offered a reward. I just wanted my baby home! It was night after night of searching and calling in the middle of the night but nothing.. where could she have disappeared to!?
 
Sunday 22nd of May I was doing my usual weekly meal prep so my phone was on 'Do Not Disturb'. I happened to have a quick look at it and there was numerous missed calls, messages, Facebook messages and comments. First I freaked out and was so worried until I read the words 'Hi Tiff, I think we found your cat'. I frantically checked all my notifications to then find a photo that was posted of my little Pixel! I cried. I cried and cried and just couldn't contain my tears of joy.
 
While I returned the missed call to the wonderful person who found Pixel, a neighbour nearby saw the Facebook post and came and knocked on my door to let me know (how sweet right!?). Then I also had a message from my daughter's teacher with a photo of the post in hope that it was our girl (how amazing is our community!).
 
I couldn't contain my excitement and I rushed around to pick up my little girl. I was adamant that the young lady that asked her mum to turn around to look for Pixel, took the reward money as a show of gratitude. It really meant the world to me. Pixel cuddle into me the whole drive home. We arrived home and if I went to move from Pixel, she would meow until I came back. She had some dinner and we went to bed. She slept on my chest the whole night, just purring. I think she is just as happy to be home as we are.

- Tiffany 

Found After 4 Years

After our cat went missing 4 years ago and many hours of looking, a lady handed her into Sorrento Animal Hospital in Western Australia.

After scanning the microchip, the hospital obtained our old address and went around to the address. We had since moved and changed phone numbers so the information on the chip was old. Our neighbor at the old address contacted me to tell me Sooty had been found.

We have now been reunited and Sooty is being reintroduced to our family.
 
It is an amazing unbelievable story, but true.

- Tania 

Franklin Bular's Day Off

Thanks to all for your support, shares and suggestions, it's been overwhelming.
  
We put a poster up at a nearby construction site on davison and buckingham at 3.30am this morn, about 200m away from where we live. A worker called at 8.30am to say they'd had a cat on site since Wednesday hiding in a gap between 2 walls 😟
  
We rushed over straight away, nearly 3hrs of calling and coaxing, and he finally crawled out to me, into his cat carrier and ate up some kibbles. Dirty, scared, hungry and uninjured thankfully!!!
  
More background, another worker saw him on the site security camera on Wednesday morn and tried to catch him. Frankie bolted and hid between the walls. He's been hiding there for 3 nights 😢
 
So lovely of the site crew to look out for him, they'd even bought him food. Huge thanks to Adam, Marcus and the guys and gals ♥️
 
Special thanks to the site manager who came over on day off and was prepared to let us break through the brick wall to get him out.

- Erin 

Long Way Home

As a Foster carer for people, you sometimes forget that pets need a safe place to stay too. I was looking after a 17 year old girl and to keep her grounded she wanted her pet to live with us too. Bel Bel was a quite patient little dog.
 
I registered her and microchipped her in case she escaped, she would be brought home. I forgot that I had done this and the young person and her dog moved out to her mother's. The young person then moved to Mildura. 6 months later I got a call from the pound saying Bell Bell had been surrendered. That they had my dog in really bad condition. I explained the situation and they said I was the legal owner.
  
My son went to collect her (with a bad hair cut and underweight), he said she was like a cartoon character that was unable to get traction on their feet. She was so happy to have a warm bed and a belly full of food. We missed her.

- Amanda

Mougli's Day Out

It was so stressful to see him go missing as soon as I woke up in the morning. I went out asking neighbours, sharing my contact number, calling vets, RSPCA etc. Kept calling his name around the streets. Went searching for him at different times of the day, finally as soon as it got dark, I went out with my daughter calling his name. I could then hear from nowhere him meowing that's when I felt my heart beat and started looking around. He was showing vaguely in the dark.
  
After approaching him he realised it was us. Finally, the moment is here. He is back home licking our faces.

- Srav

Home Safe After 20 Days!

Our cat Zelda was missing for 20 days.
 
We put out posters all around the neighbourhood, called the RSPCA and animal Hospital, plus contacted CAR who were really helpful with getting the missing status up quickly.
 
After 10 days we'd heard nothing and seen no sign of her.
 
Two weeks, still nothing, so we bought an inexpensive security camera to keep outside to keep an eye out for her.
 
We also put out a litter tray she'd used (scooped clean of course), and a favourite stool she liked to sit on.
 
The next night we got a call from someone who saw the posters that they saw her coming down our driveway, but we didn't see her although we searched all around and called out for ages.
 
We saw then on the camera late that night, and finally felt some hope.
 
She started showing up every night, and sniffing around, we put some food out but a neighbourhood cat that's left out all night usually ate it first.
 
Finally we got her comfortable coming into the house following a trail of food, and today while working from home I saw her on camera sneaking in. I ran out the back and around three house and shut the door with her inside!
 It's taken her a few hours to calm down and get back to her old self, but now she's happy and cuddly and seems none the worse for her 20 days of adventure, though we're all sleep deprived from stress and checking the camera every time it detected anything.

- C.A.R. Pet Owner

Lost In The Bush For Seven Nights

We were 2wks away from going to France for 6mths and Muchka was staying on a farm while we were away. He's an indoor cat at night but the minders had not gotten home till very late. It was dark when he wandered off. For 7 nights we searched. It was an area new to him with bush land as far as you could see. We Printed 350 flyers and had 150 people on social media trying to help and they had decided if by morning he was still missing they were going to organise a huge search party. It completely touched my heart that perfect strangers would help him so much. I could not go to France knowing he was lost so I was going to cancel our trip. There were big storms at the time and I had begun to lose hope of finding him.
  
The next morning was the 8th day, I prayed to God ( I wasn't Christian at the time) and said "I need your help. I've done everything I can and the only way is for you to show him the way home." I said "I'll never doubt you again if you do this one thing" .
  
I said " And I need this done today by the way" I'm it even kidding, within exactly 1hr the minder called me and said listen ... I heard him meowing he was on their back deck. He HAD found his way back. He was skin and bones. Clearly had not eaten in a week. An absolute miracle. He now has Oreofacial pain disorder from the stress but is on long term medication which is keeping it under control. We went and returned from France and he's now back living his best life with us at home.

- Melissa

Claude

Claude is a senior boy and is 8 years old this year. He is a fabulous boy and probably because he thinks he is a dog, always found his way into tradie bags or sheds. He would jump over our heads and shoulders from the kitchen bench to exit for outside. Ultimately he didn't return from an adventure for years.At the start of this year my mother died.
 
A week later Claude was brought into the pound. So, I'd lost my mother but found my cat. I felt this was a blessing because I had missed him terribly and wondered about him. When he arrived home he was exhausted and slept for days and was thin and needed a bath. Thankfully his appetite has improved and he is back to a great ragdoll weight. His hair knots are untangled and his fur is growing back beautifully.
 
Thank goodness for microchipping.

- Wanda

Homeward Bound

Upon retirement we recently moved 130 km away down to the Surf Coast with 17 year old Rowdy in tow. He had been many times to our new house during holidays and long weekends but was never bold enough to venture outside. In order to get him used to being outside during the day, he was let out for a drink, but didn't return.4 weeks later, whilst holidaying in the Grampians, we received a call from a local vet that they had Rowdy, in good health but a little lean, all thanks to a caring lady and his microchip.It turns out that he was found/rescued about 20 kms away in a near direct line to where we used to live. He was Homeward Bound.We missed celebrating his 18th birthday but look forward to his 19th.

- Trevor

Oskar Was Missing For 6 Days & Nights

We adopted Oskar and his sister Patsy 3 years ago. They absolutely completed our family and we love them more than we ever realised we would despite always having pets. Our cats are indoor/outdoor cats, they love exploring the backyard finding bugs and critters but never wander far from home. I occasionally would see them sitting on a fence or when they are really brave they could be found in the front yard, but never out on the footpath or road. We get them in each night about 8pm to keep them safe. Last Friday night Oskar wouldn't come inside. We left the dog door unlocked knowing he could let himself in/out and hoped he'd come back inside when it was all quiet. (Patsy hasn't mastered the dog door so we knew she was safe)Every day I’d look at the back door but no sign of him. For 6 days and nights we walked the streets calling his name, shaking the food and listening for his cry. We left food outside, put the kitty litter out on the garden shed roof, left our dirty clothes outside so he could smell our scent, but nothing worked. We delivered approx 500 flyers into letterboxes to get the word out there and get the community to help us find our furbaby, but despite our efforts, there was nothing…..no sign of him. I walked 4 times my usually steps every day as I felt it was the only thing I could do…..I wasn’t going to give up. I hardly slept for 6 days because I was trying to look for him at various times 11pm, 1am, 3am, 5am, but there was nothing. I knocked and inspected 20 neighbours backyards to see if he was trapped, but nothing. I took a ladder to a vacant house to jump the locked gate, I went into the backyard and looked, but there was nothing. My heart was breaking as I knew I was running out of time. If he’d been trapped, injured or hit by a car, he may be hiding, and we had to find him before he died. I couldn’t function – I was sleep deprived and extremely emotional all the while trying to be “brave” for my kids. By day 5 I was starting to believe he was gone, never to be seen again. We had offered a $500 reward even if it was to find out he had died, because not knowing was killing me, I was so worried he was suffering.Friday of this week, I had only been in bed 3 hours when I heard a weird meow at the bottom of my bed at 4:30am. I knew it wasn’t Patsy so I jumped out of bed calling Oskars name, it was dark and I couldn’t see what cat it was. I wandered out to the kitchen and Oskar was sat at his food bowl crying for food. I was, and still am 24hrs later, absolutely gob smacked! Was I dreaming, oh no this was real. I started sobbing with happy tears but was scaring the cat. My sobbing woke the rest of the family up. I picked him up, and he was real, I wasn’t dreaming. He was skinny but he seemed ok. We were all emotional but showered him with love. We realised the first thing he needed, besides our love, was food and water. Hubby and 1 child went back to bed but my 14yo son and I were too excited to go back to bed, so we made a cuppa tea, got a blanket and sat on the couch together while watching the sun come up and watching Oskar rest up after his big 6 day adventurer. Patsy was hissing at him and we realised he smells different – he smells like musty storage couch/clothes. We can only assume he was locked in a garage, but we will never know. Oh how I wish he could talk to tell me where he’d been but for now we are so grateful he is home and our family is once again complete.

- Audrey

5 Months Later

I always knew he would be found again. I promised never to lose hope, despite the months ticking away. I have been checking lost animal pages every day since he went missing - I even joined FB for the first time in my life to get the message out! I did 3 flyer drops , each time choosing different areas - and of course the last area that I hadn't yet flyer dropped was the one where he was found. Cat trapped by council after a member of the public had phoned to state he had stray cats coming and going. If it hadn't been for the microchip details - I would have been none the wiser. Council was able to call me, after assessing he was missing on the register and its been an incredible emotional day. My family is back together and I've updated his status online under his animal registry profile.

- Cristina

Missing For 19 Days

Our family adopted George from the RSPCA around 7 years ago, he was around 2 years old.George went missing from our home in Wheelers Hill Victoria. He escaped from a second story window which was left slightly open and we had forgotten about, landing on a garden bed below which clearly broke his fall.We arrived home at 1.30am 1/1/2022 without the usual greeting. We looked all over the house in every room and cupboards and realised that he had escaped. Expecting the worst, I searched all over our block expecting him to be badly injured by the fall or worse. We went through every inch block and our George was nowhere to be seen, he had escaped most likely spooked by NYE fireworks. At 2am we searched our street and our suburb until around 6am, he had vanished.I searched the next day with friends and family and no sightings.Over the next weeks we did letter drops, put posters up searched parks vacant blocks and I plastered his photo and Missing message to over 20 community and lost dog sites, called vets and pounds with nothing except for tremendous support from this community which rallied to share our message. On the 18th day that George had been missing a local who was on holidays had volunteered CCTV footage which was handed to Police for investigation. That night I updated all of the post to say we hoped this new information would lead to getting our George back. On the 19th day he went missing, the next day after updating all the facebook post, I received a call from a policeman at 3pm who was at the Noble Park Veterinary Hospital and asked if I was missing my dog. I couldn't believe it, after validating all of my details from his microchip he confirmed that George was picked up after being hit by a car on Heatherton Road Noble park that afternoon. It was the best news. I picked up George at 4.30 pm 19/1/2022, he had lost 2kg had a bloodshot eye and a torn knee ligament, frail and traumatised I brought him home, the best day of 2022.He is recovering well and with time will heal. What a relief.......I was told we had around 20k shares from all the posts. What a journey he must have had, if only he could tell it. So blessed to have him back.The picture provided was taken the day he was found after picking him up to bring him back home.

- Leo