Missing Gosport cat is reunited with family almost 2 years after she disappeared

Black and white Fluffy escaped outside Gosport Leisure Centre in Forest Way on November 17, 2018, when she was just 10 months old.

Owner Helen Morgan’s daughter had been dropping her children off at the centre before taking Fluffy to the vet for vaccinations when the young cat ran away.

The family searched the area around their home in Stanley Close, Elson, but despite their best efforts believed Fluffy was lost for good.

Helen said: ‘We were heartbroken when Fluffy escaped. We’d had her since she was just a tiny ball of fluff and we felt lost without her.

‘My daughter went out looking for her with her dog, my son went out on his bike, my husband on his mobility scooter - we were all out searching but she was nowhere to be found.’

Helen had registered Fluffy as missing and although Cats Protection received a couple of sightings over the years, they turned out to be false alarms.

There was no sign of Fluffy until cat-lover Janet Lucas from The Chine, less than half a mile from where Fluffy went missing, spotted her and got in touch with the charity’s Gosport Branch who came out to investigate.

Carole Rudin, lost and found volunteer, said: ‘It’s always a thrill when the scanner goes ping to say a chip is present and even more so when there are up-to-date details.

‘A microchip makes such a difference to lost cats, although we have really honed our detective skills - without the details it’s like finding a needle in a haystack.’

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Carole realised it was the same cat which had been on their radar for two years, and within 30 minutes the Morgans arrived to collect Fluffy.

Helen said: ‘I couldn’t believe it when we got the call, it was quite overwhelming. It’s been amazing since she’s been back. It’s as though she walked in the door, looked around and relaxed, knowing she was home.

‘She was initially a bit wary of strangers and would give a low growl when she saw somebody new, but now she’s been home for a week she is behaving just as she did before. It’s really grand to have her home.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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