Cat Honey reunited with Hamilton family after five years missing

A Waikato family whose cat was returned home after being lost for half a decade in the South Island are labelling the situation a “miracle”.

The tabby has received five years’ worth of loving in the past seven months since her return.

Anahera Crawford and her family adopted cat Honey when Crawford was 7.

The family and their much-loved feline spent the next five years together at their Hamilton home.

“She absolutely loved cuddles and she would follow us around like a shadow,” Crawford, now 17, told the Herald.

But that all changed when the family were driving down to Dunedin in 2020 to relocate.

Honey went missing for five years after running off in a Christchurch park. Photo / Anahera Crawford

Upon stopping in Christchurch on Anahera’s mum’s (Diane Walters) birthday, their car had mechanical problems, leading to an extended stay.

While waiting to pick up the car, the family went to Warren Park and decided to let Honey out of her cage to get some fresh air.

Honey had struggled with the long car journey.

“Previously, Honey had no issues with being in public and she often used to walk me halfway to school before running back home.”

But this time was different. Honey bolted out of sight and stayed that way for five years.

“Looking back, obviously, me and Mum, we kick ourselves so much for even opening the cage.

“We definitely blamed ourselves a lot for it, and it was really hard because it was Mum’s birthday and she was just devastated,” Crawford said.

The family went back to Ōtautahi several times to search for Honey but the cost of the trips and a lack of success led them to resort to local Facebook pages.

Losing Honey was made especially hard by Covid lockdowns and struggling to adapt to life in a new city, Crawford said.

“I already felt like really isolated.”

Honey was reunited with her family five years after going missing. Photo / Anahera Crawford

Several years passed, and numerous posts did not aid the search until Honey turned up at a Kaiapoi vet in July 2025.

By then, the family had returned to Hamilton after a year in the south and had been grieving a death in the family that January.

The good news came when Crawford and her mum were driving home one night and got a call from an unknown number in Christchurch.

“The Kaiapoi vets called and said they had found our Honey.

“My mum and I burst into tears. It had been five years, it was truly a miracle.”

Diane Walters and her daughter, Anahera Crawford the day they got Honey back. Photo / Anahera Crawford

Honey had made her home at a local resident’s house, 39km away from where she went missing, and after she was taken to the vet, the microchip helped identify her.

Two weeks later, a family friend picked her up and Honey was returned home.

“We love her so much, and we’re so grateful for this miracle and for everyone who played a part in getting her home.

“She’s gotten five years’ worth of loving in the last seven months. She is truly so spoiled, and we can’t imagine life without her,” Crawford said.

In their years away from Honey, the family kept a picture of her hung on the wall and even tried getting a dog, “but nothing could compare to our cat”.