Missing cat reunited with owner after mysteriously travelling 50 miles to Petersfield from Wimbledon home

The wandering Siberian feline, called Shakira, was handed in to St Peter’s Vets in Petersfield, after a worried family found her sheltering in their shed.

Staff at the practice are hoping to highlight the importance of microchipping and keeping contact details up to date, as this is the easiest way to match missing pets with their owners.

When Shakira came into St Peter’s Vets, receptionist Heather Tropman immediately checked to see if she had a microchip so the owner could quickly be traced.

When the telephone numbers registered with the chip didn’t work, she sent an email as a last resort and, thankfully, received a message back from owner Tom Jones.

Incredibly she discovered Tom lived in Wimbledon, around 50 miles away. He had been sick with worry, putting up posters and asking around the neighbourhood for the eight days since his cat disappeared.

Heather said: ‘It was such relief when the email worked and Tom got back to me – I was amazed though that he lived so far away. I’ve never known anything like this before. Shakira had been on some journey!’

The reunion was made more remarkable as the email address was one which Tom had stopped using and had only reactivated by coincidence recently.

SEE ALSO: Kind Cosham couple to offer free sandwiches to help people struggling to feed their families

A relieved Tom said: ‘It was just by chance I actually received that email as it was a work one from years ago, the message would have just been lost if I hadn’t reactivated that address. Thank goodness I had, especially as my telephone numbers weren’t current.’

He added: ‘I was so pleased to see her and can’t thank Heather and St Peter’s Vets enough – I’m definitely making sure I keep the microchip details up-to-date in future.

‘How Shakira got down to Petersfield we’ll never know but the best guess is she jumped in the back of a van out of curiosity, got trapped when the driver closed the door and drove away, then scarpered the minute the door was opened.’

Shakira was a bit skinny and bedraggled but otherwise fine and Tom said she is now back to her old contented self.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.