A SCOTS pet owner has been left in disbelief after her beloved cat, who disappeared six weeks ago, was finally found – 114 miles away from home.
Lindsay Arbuckle was heartbroken when her moggy Spooky went missing last month and efforts to locate him in their hometown of Nairn, Highlands proved fruitless.
The 51-year-old and her family soon gave up hope, with no trace of three-year-old Spooky anywhere despite a handful of sightings here and there.
Incredibly on Saturday though, almost six weeks later, Lindsay received a call from Katie McCandless in Perth to inform her that her cat had been found, over 114 miles from his rightful home.
Spooky had initially been spotted under a car by Perth local Amy Hart, who had then reported the missing moggy to Katie at Missing Pets Perth and Kinross.
After scanning the terrified feline’s microchip, Katie, 36, was stunned to find that Spooky had crossed the Cairngorms and ended up a near-three-hour drive from his hometown.
After a stressful six weeks, the family were once again reunited with Spooky on Sunday, making the trip down to Perth to pick up their adventurous escape artist.
In a heartwarming update posted to social media on Sunday, Missing Pets Perth and Kinross wrote: “Welcome home Spooky!
“Last night a local Perthshire resident alerted us to a black cat in town that seemed quite skittish and ‘lost’ – hiding under cars.
“As no vets were available at that time, we managed to get out and scan the cat. Assuming that she was a local just out on a wander. How wrong were we? Very!
“The microchip details loaded and the address was 114 miles away – Nairn! So we called the owners and amazingly it was their missing cat Spooky.
“Spooky had went missing from home almost two months ago.
“The family had almost given up hope of ever seeing their little black kitty again. They just hoped that Spooky had found a new family and that nothing untoward happened to her.
“Spooky had a sleepover with one of our team and her family travelled the two and a half hours to collect her.
“What a happy reunion it was indeed. Spooky was on her back paws reaching up for head pets.
“This just goes to show how important microchipping and registering your details is. They would never have thought Spooky would have ended up in Perthshire.
“Safe journey home Spooky- was a pleasure having you darling.”
The post received over 830 likes and more than 90 comments from users left overjoyed to see a happy ending to Spooky’s story.
Mandy Ross wrote: “What a fabulous outcome and shows the importance of chipping your fur babies. Well done to all involved in getting this wee one reunited with his owners .”
Carol Stanley said: “I love a happy ending. Keep Spooky away from delivery vans as I think she hitched a lift. She’s a very lucky girl.”
Catherine Massey commented: “What a wonderful story. No more adventures, Spooky, your family don’t want the worry again. Love and cuddles.”
Gillian Malloch added: “Fantastic and heartwarming story. Delighted that Spooky got home safe and sound eventually.
“Just goes to show how wonderful the guys and gals are at Missing Pets, Perth and Kinross, and also the kind lady Amy, who trusted her instincts. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?”
Speaking to Lindsay today, she said: “We got Spooky at the beginning of lockdown and is really my youngest son Alex’s cat.
“She’s a street-wise cat that likes to be out and come back to eat and sleep. Gets around and goes quite far. She always came home though.
“When she didn’t come home, it was the time of the heatwave just before the big thunderstorm and heavy rain, so everyone had their sheds and garages open.
“I thought she’d just been locked in a garage or shed and checked with our neighbours. This has happened a couple of times before.
“When she hadn’t come back a couple of days later, I put a post on our local Nairn Facebook page.
“We had lots of false sightings and calls but it never turned out to be Spooky.
“I even ‘catnapped’ a cat from the other side of town that I’d had two phone calls about and took it to the vets to be scanned but it turned out to be a male cat.
“We had more or less given up hope of ever finding out what had happened to Spooky, when I got a phone call on Saturday night at 11:05pm from Katie at Missing Pets Perth and Kinross to ask if I was missing a cat.
“Honestly couldn’t believe it was Spooky all those miles away but they had scanned her microchip and it was her.
“It was a girl called Amy Hart who had called Missing Pets after spotting Spooky under cars on a busy road and her gut telling her something wasn’t right.
“As it was so late, Spooky went home with one of the girls, Chrissie, to stay overnight in her house and we left to set out on the journey to retrieve her yesterday morning.
“I think she has probably got into a workman’s van that’s been open in our street, and travelled in it down to Perth.
“[At the reunion] She remembered us and it was all head bumps and cuddles. The children were so excited to see her when we got home.
“She’s slept in the one place on the couch ever since getting home.
Founder of Missing Pets Perth & Kinross, Katie McCandless, said: “On Saturday night we received a message from a member of the public about a little black cat very scared hiding under cars next to the North Inch in Perth.
“Operations Director, Christine Faulds Quinn, who also helps with the running of Missing Pets offered to meet the finder of the cat and scan for a microchip.
“To our amazement the chip details came up for a little black cat called Spooky all the way from Nairn.
We called the contact number and gave the good news to Spooky’s family she was safe.
“They were just as amazed as we were about the journey she had been on, especially as she had been missing for two months.
“How she had made it 114 miles from home we have no idea but she was in incredible condition.
“On the Sunday, Spooky’s parents travelled down from Nairn to be reunited with her. There was lots of cuddles and purrs from Spooky as soon as she realised her family were here to take her home.”
