By Elizabeth Hunter via SWNS
A cat has been reunited with its owner – 12 years after disappearing from the family home.
Artie the cat went missing the home of Theo-Will McKenna, 29, and their mother after the family moved from Blacon in Chester, to Connah’s Quay in Wales in 2012.
Theo-Will, then 17, spent six months looking for Artie whenever he could – but eventually the family lost hope that their beloved cat would ever be found.
But three weeks ago, Artie was discovered after spending four days in a garden close to where the family had lived in Connah’s Quay.
Delighted Theo-Will said: “I hadn’t been able to take him with me when I moved out, and my mom moved to Connah’s Quay with him, my brother and our other pets.
“I was in college in the area, so I’d pop back to visit once a week or so.
“One day, I came back, and my mom said he’d gone. He hadn’t come back in a couple of days – and he’d never done that before, he used to come back every night.
“I immediately went out to look for him. I walked around the entire area with a bag full of treats and I found nothing.
“About six months after he went missing, I’d lost hope. I’d kept an eye out for him every time I was in the area, and there had been no sign of him.
“After six months, I reached the point where I thought that either, God forbid, something had happened to him, or someone else has taken him in.”
Residents at the home where Artie was found took him to the vet – who found a microchip registered to Theo-Will’s mother, with a contact number for North Clwyd Animal Rescue (NCAR).
NCAR picked Artie up, and shared an appeal on Facebook to try and find his owners – and luckily, a friend recognized Artie and sent the post to Theo-Will.
Theo-Will said: “According to North Clwyd Animal Rescue – who are absolutely brilliant – he showed up in someone’s garden nearby where my mom had lived in Connah’s Quay.
“He showed up in their garden and just stayed there for four days. He didn’t leave at all, just stayed there.
“They scooped him up and took him to the vet, who scanned his microchip. The chip was still registered to my mm at our old Blaken address, but NCAR always stay on the microchip as a secondary contact.
“When they found out that my mom didn’t live there anymore, they reached out to NCAR they reclaimed him from the vet.
“They did some medical work on him – removed some teeth, treated his hyperthyroidism and took out some precancerous lumps in his ears.
“They got him stable and then posted on their Facebook page, explaining that he’d been found and registered to my mom’s name.
“My friend saw it and sent me the post – it took me a second to recognize him, because he looked so bedraggled and skinny.
“It didn’t feel real. I thought there was no way it could be him.
“It had been 12 years – he went missing when I was 17. I thought no cat could survive 12 years on the street.
“The day we saw the post was a bank holiday Monday and NCAR was shut, so we picked him up the next day.”
Theo-Will took Artie home to their Blacon flat, where he is now getting used to living with Theo-Will’s other cat.
“We went to pick him up and see if we could have a trial of me bringing him home to see if they got along – and NCAR were absolutely incredible and said yes,” said Theo-Will
“We’re still in the trial period, but he’s been completely fine. He’s purring up a storm every time I go near him.
“My other cat has been a little bit wary, but we’ve been doing introductory methods and getting her used to his smell.
“It’s a slow process, but I’m absolutely determined that he’s staying with me.
“I think people must have been looking after him over the years – whether that’s been putting food out, or people taking him in, because I don’t think he would have made it 12 years without community kindness.”
Artie, now 16, will require extensive and ongoing medical care, with his medicine costing £50 per month.
Theo-Will has started a GoFundMe to raise money for Artie’s care – which has raised a whopping £930 so far.
“At this point, it’s at £930 – which is £930 more than I thought we’d raise,” said Theo-Will.
“I thought my friends would chuck in a couple of pounds, and I expected the odd person on social media to maybe chuck a tenner in my direction – I did not expect to raise that much.
“That is months of his meds, it’s any vet trips I may need because of his age and his health problems.
“I want him to be able to spend his twilight years somewhere that he’s loved – which will be here.”
