Ten-year-old Alfie was found just two roads away.
A woman has been reunited with her pet cat four years after he went missing thanks to his microchip.
Mandy Davis from Portsmouth was “over the moon” to receive a call from the RSPCA regarding her 10-year-old cat Alfie, who went missing in July 2022.
Alfie went missing a week after Mandy and her family had moved into a new house. Despite her best-efforts to keep him inside, he managed to squeeze himself through a tiny gap in the window that had been left slightly ajar.
Mandy spent years wondering what had become of Alfie, but his eventual discovery occurred just two streets away. On 15 March, the RSPCA received a call from Mandy’s neighbour, who had found a cat stuck between a tiny gap.
RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Sarah Whatton, who responded to the call, said: “We were concerned about the cat because the caller said he was last seen at around 3am, so he could have been stuck in the gap for some time. Despite this, he was bright and alert.
“We think he’d fallen from a first floor roof and got stuck in a tight 10cm (4in) gap between two brick conservatories.”
Despite the RSPCA's best efforts, including help from the fire brigade, the cat proved tricky to reach. It was decided after about five hours that remote sedation would be the only way to release the cat without risking him panicking and struggling.
A local vet came out and made a makeshift ‘jab stick’ so the injection could be safely injected into the tiny gap where the cat was wedged.
Sarah said: “The vet told us once the sedation took effect we had one minute to free him before there was serious risk of breathing difficulties so we were really up against the clock. We were concerned about injuring him but we’d run out of other options. It took all three of us to pull him out and by some absolute miracle he came out unharmed.
“What was even more surprising, was that when we scanned him for a microchip we learned he’d been reported missing back in 2022!”
Sarah and her colleague Morgan quickly set to tracking down Alfie's owners and returned him to them on Mother’s Day - which also happened to be the father’s birthday!
Sarah added: “They were shocked and delighted to have their cat - Alfie - back after all this time. I spoke to Alfie’s owners the next day to learn that he is settling back in at home very well and has been enjoying chin rubs and purring loudly.
A heartwarming video shows the moment Mandy was reunited with Alfie, and she can be heard saying tearily: ‘I thought I’d never see you again.’
Mandy said: “I couldn’t quite believe it when the RSPCA called to tell me they had him, and he’d been found just two roads away from our house! It still feels like a bit of a blur; I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see him again.”
Alfie went to the vets for a check-up and, despite a few mats in his fur, he was remarkably healthy.
Image (C) RSPCA.
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