Missing Stoke-on-Trent cat turns up ....150 miles away!

MISSING Stoke-on-Trent cat Bobby has reappeared after four years – 150 miles away in South Wales.

The wandering moggy was taken in as a stray by Cardiff cat-lover Lawrence Gwynn after he turned up on his doorstep last summer.

But it was only when Lawrence took the cat to the vets that he found out that he had actually been registered as missing in Stoke-on-Trent in 2009.

Bobby had been implanted with a microchip, allowing the vet to find out about his ownership.

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How the Potteries puss found his way to Cardiff is unknown, and attempts to contact his last registered keeper have so far been unsuccessful.

Lawrence is now appealing for the 12-year-old male tabby's owner to come forward.

The 49-year-old said: "I first found the cat sitting in my garden when I came back from holiday in June. I have three cats of my own, so I was happy to feed him and take him in.

"Later on he started developing these polyps on his ears, and so I took him to my vet. After the vet had treated him, he told me that the cat actually had a microchip.

"He scanned it and found out that the cat's name was Bobby, and he had been registered missing in Stoke-on-Trent in 2009.

"Nobody knows how he ended up in Cardiff, 150 miles away. One theory is that he got inside a vehicle like a removal van that brought him down here. You do hear about that sort of thing happening.

"But he was in quite a good condition when I found him, so it seems like someone had been looking after him in Cardiff before I found him."

The vet was able to find two telephone numbers registered to Bobby's owner, but one was no longer valid, and there was no answer on the other.

Lawrence said he hoped he would be able to track down Bobby's owner.

He added: "If the owner does come forward and wants Bobby back, I'd be happy to hand him over."

Hilary Baxter, co-ordinator at Alsager Animals in Need, knew of numerous cases where pets had been found far from home.

She said: "It's just good that we have the microchips these days so we can find out who the owner is and reunite them with their pets.

"I knew of a case recently where a Staffy, who was found in Bignall End, and when the vet scanned him it turned out he had been reported missing in Wolverhampton.

"I think in that case the dog had been stolen, but with cats it is quite common for them to stow away in vans."