Lost cat turns up seven months and 20km later

Pauline White has been reunited with her missing cat Sandy.

Pauline White had almost given up hope of ever seeing her 6-year-old cat Sandy again. Until a phone call from the Hastings SPCA which changed everything.

Pauline and Sandy were reunited just over a week ago after Sandy had been missing from her Napier home for more than seven months.

"I was starting to sort of lose hope, but there's always that little bit. I hadn't had a call from the council or Downers who sometimes pick up cats and check their chips."

Sandy had been missing from her Napier property since March 3, around 9.30pm.

"She was sitting at the end of the concrete with her nose twitching. I thought I'd give her 10 more minutes."

Pauline had only been living in her new house for six weeks at the time. She said she went back and forth several times to see if Sandy had returned to her old home.

"There was a lot of activity here at the time — builders, lawnmowers, trucks. There was so much going on and so much noise. I thought she could have got into a builder's van. But I didn't think she would have gone far."

Little did Pauline know, but over the next seven months, her beloved pet had managed to end up in Hastings.

"I was so excited when I got the call. I couldn't believe it. The vet checked her chip. I would never have seen her again if she wasn't chipped."

Now safely home, Pauline isn't letting Sandy out of her sight.

"She is staying inside until I have bought a little harness with a name tag for her."

On her first night back home, Pauline says Sandy jumped up on her bed and slept on it all night.

"I was so happy. I just thought, she's back. I'm ecstatic."