A Cardiff cat has been found hundreds of miles away from home in North Wales – after taking the five hour journey without his owners.
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Bear – the Burmese cat – accidentally took a trip to Holyhead without his owners knowing – around 200 miles away from home!
Bear was spotted near a car park at South Stack, Holyhead, on 8 August and again on 9 August, with concerns growing for him as he was holding his head on one side. He was confined to a courtyard and a call was made to the RSPCA for help.
RSPCA inspector Jenny Anderton attended following the call and took the cat – thought to be injured – over to a vet to be checked over.
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“I could not believe it when the microchip details showed that he was from Cardiff,” she said. “The chip also showed that he was already being cared for by a vet for his head tilt.
“It could have been that the owners had moved house – but in fact the microchip details were all correct. Bear – who is four years old – had somehow managed to get all the way up to the top of Wales – a five hour journey from home.”
Jenny then spoke to Bear’s surprised owners and made arrangements for him to be reunited with them.
“Apparently this is the second time he has been on an adventure like this,” said Jenny. “He must like to get into people’s cars and enjoy visiting new places!
“It’s an incredible story with a wonderful happy ending – that has really proven the importance of microchipping.
“Luckily for him (or not so lucky) he has a head tilt and tendency to pace around in circles since a seizure a few years ago. But this did mean a concerned member of the public reported him to us and we were then able to scan for a microchip and reunite him!
“His owners have now discovered that a friend who had stayed with them had gone on holiday to South Stack so it appears he hitched a lift – which solves the mystery of how he got up there!”
Bear’s owner Georgina Kellen said: “Bear had been missing since Sunday (4 August) and we were just waiting for him to come home.
“Earlier this summer he went missing for six weeks. We luckily had a phone call from a vet in Newport as a member of the public who had been feeding him for a week had taken him in.
“This time he managed to hitch a lift with a friend who had stayed over. We did check all our three cats before he left, but somehow or other he managed to get inside his van. Our friend didn’t notice he had a stowaway and even stopped twice, but Bear made it all the way up there.
“We happened to be in Manchester on the weekend and Jenny rang on Friday so we made arrangements to meet an officer with Bear in Stockport. We’re very thankful to have him home and it really shows the importance of microchipping. Hopefully he won’t be on any more adventures any time soon!”
The RSPCA would like to remind people to get their pets microchipped to give their lost pets the chance of returning home, as in this case it proved to be very lucky for Bear.
It is also important to register the chip with a national database and update your contact details if you move or change phone number. More information can be found at www.rspca.org.uk/allaboutanimals/pets/general/microchipping
