Microchip leads to reunion for cat missing for 11 months from Wellsford home

A beloved 12-year-old cat was found almost 100km away after she disappeared from her home nearly a year ago. Photo / Supplied

A 12-year-old family cat missing for nearly a year was found almost 100km away from her home.

Wellsford’s Lisa Ridings told the Herald it felt like a miracle when she received a call from the vet on Thursday saying her cat, Willow, had been found thanks to her microchip.

“So glad to have her home. I put faith in her microchip, and it paid off,” Ridings said.

Since Willow’s disappearance 11 months ago, Ridings understood her pet had been in the possession of a fellow Wellsford local who had subsequently moved to a care facility in Dargaville.

She said the person who “took her in” may not have known to check for a microchip.

Willow went missing just 10 days after Ridings moved into her new home in Wellsford last year.

Ridings said she had suspicions about some aggressive dogs in the neighbourhood.

“We thought the dogs had killed her and that they had just disposed of it.”

Ridings and her partner executed an extensive search around the neighbourhood and dropped flyers in mailboxes.

But all attempts to find their beloved cat were in vain.

“We got her from the SPCA 10 years ago on Thanksgiving ... she was my Thanksgiving cat.

“To think that we had lost her, I felt like I had let her down, because we’d already rescued her,” Ridings said.

A beloved 12-year-old cat was found almost 100km away after she disappeared from her home nearly a year ago. Photo / Supplied

But on Thursday, Ridings received a phone call from a vet in Dargaville who asked her if she had lost a pet.

“He had scanned her microchip, and it was our Willow.

“Is this for real? Because we really thought that she met her demise.”

Ridings said Willow returned home much thinner, but, overall was in good shape.

“Her return has given us some sort of closure.

“I think that was the hardest part, not knowing what exactly happened to her,” she said.

Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.