Cat returns home after four years, thanks to temporary caregivers, a chip and a shelter

Willow disappeared from her home in 2007, then made her family’s 2011 Christmas holidays complete when she was finally reunited with them last week.

Ten year old Willow lived with Cristel and Mark Worth and their young daughter until she disappeared from her Princetown, Devon  , UK home in 2007. The family had no inkling of her whereabouts until last Tuesday when they received a call from the Gables Farm Dogs’ and Cats’ Home in Plymouth. Willow had turned up at the home of a couple from the Elburton section of Plymouth, about 20 miles from Princetown, six months ago. The couple fed and cared for the stray cat until a space opened up for her recently at the no-kill shelter. A microchip scan quickly identified the cat as Willow and the call was made to her long lost family.

Cristel Worth is quoted in This is Plymouth saying, “We were sitting there, already in our pyjamas, and we were gobsmacked. They told us we had 20 minutes to get to the Gables before they closed for the night, so we jumped in the car, still in our pyjamas, and raced over. It’s really only sinking in now, but it’s the best Christmas present ever.”

Cristel felt that Willow recognized her and her husband right away and says the cat is settling in well now that she is back home. Willow is in good physical shape, and was well cared for by her temporary caregivers. As in so many cases, Willow’s family wishes she could talk and tell them what she was up to and who she may have been with for three and a half years.

According to the  Gables Farm Dogs and Cats Home Facebook page, they shelter and rehome unwanted and abandoned dogs and cats from Devon and Cornwall. They  look for loving new homes for these animals and adhere to a strict non-euthanasia policy. Gables Farm urges all caregivers to get their pets microchipped.