Missing cat reunited with family after seven years

Ginger tom Boots disappeared from his Birmingham home in 2017

A cat who was missing for more than seven years after getting lost has been reunited with his owners.

Boots disappeared from his home in Birmingham in 2017, with his family convinced they would never see him again after they moved away.

The ginger tom, who was living as a stray, was found in his former neighbourhood by the RSPCA, which was able to reunite him with his family in time for Christmas after scanning his microchip.

Owner Mary-Ann Lloyd said the family had been through "such real heartbreak" and were so happy to have him back.

Boots had been hanging around his family's former neighbourhood where he was being fed by residents who did not know who he belonged to.

He was reported to the RSPCA after one of his regular feeders moved away.

An RSPCA animal rescue officer was able to capture him in a humane trap, contacting his owners when she scanned his microchip.

She said it was a "very rare" to be able to be able to reunite a lost cat with its owner after so long.

Since June, it has been a legal requirement for cats in England to be microchipped by the time they are 20 weeks old.

Ms Lloyd said Boots had settled back in immediately with her partner David and three children.

"It's wonderful," she said. "It's like he's never been away. When he came home and I fed him, he just started purring really loudly.

"The other cats just accepted him straight away and he's claimed the best spot next to the Christmas tree."

The family launched a search when Boots disappeared, putting up posters and making door-to-door inquiries, but after hearing nothing they feared he may have been killed.

However, when they moved away, they made sure the microchip company had their new details.

"You always have that little bit of hope," Ms Lloyd added.

"But you never really think that you're going to see them again."