A black cat has been reunited with its family in time for Christmas, five years after it went missing. Wayward feline Bindi “vanished into thin air” from her home in Haddenham, Cambridgeshire, in August 2020.
Despite posting appeals on social media and searching local walking routes for several months, distraught owner Jilly Fretwell was unable to find her much-loved moggy. Software project manager Ms Fretwell, 29, thought Bindi was gone for good until she got an unexpected phone call from vets on Thursday, December 18, saying her cat had been found.
Ms Fretwell, who had since moved home, said: “It did feel like a real Christmas miracle. It wasn’t really until we saw her that we believed it was her.
“We’re just so glad we had her microchipped and that she was alive and well. I’ve never heard of anyone’s cat going missing for so long and turning up absolutely fine.”
Ms Fretwell said before Bindi went missing, she used to go out for a “couple of hours and then come straight back”, she added: “So it was really odd for her to be missing for more than a day. We really were left in the dark.”
Now Ms Fretwell is calling for others to get their cats microchipped. She said there were “no clues” about where Bindi may have been over the last five years, but she was just happy to have her back.
She continued: “She is the most cuddly, affectionate cat I’ve ever met. She puts her paws on either of your shoulders to give you a real cuddle.
“She’s very calm and cuddly, really. I think she’s been looked after by someone; she looks in great shape. She’s potentially been inside, but I have no idea.”
Moggies going missing is something many cat owners have experienced, as the independent critters either get lost or perhaps decide to live with new humans who might be feeding them.
In May, a French feline was discovered after making an astounding 1,200-mile hitchhiking adventure across Europe before being discovered in a lorry in a British warehouse.
The intrepid cat, who boarded a HGV in Italy, traversed three countries and seven English counties before being found by staff at Southwater Vets in Telford, Shropshire
Nicknamed “Pierre” by the veterinary team, the globe-trotting moggy was returned to his owners in Calais, thanks to a microchip revealing his true identity.
