Missing moggy found seven years after it escaped

Emma Broughton says she took a "gamble" on contacting Gregory's owners after scanning his microchip

A cat owner was "blown away" after her missing moggy was found seven years after it escaped from its pet carrier.

Rosie Wilson said rescue kitten, Gregory, came to live with her in 2017 but did a runner when he was one while on the way to a cattery in Norfolk.

After moving from Sheringham to Cromer, Ms Wilson spotted a similar cat to Gregory a year ago but told herself not to be "so stupid" so she was amazed to get a call from the vets saying they had found him.

"Every time we've thought about him, I've been imagining all the terrible things that could have happened to him like being run over," she said.

Rosie Wilson said she first got Gregory as a tiny kitten in 2017 before he went missing after wriggling out of a cat carrier

Ms Wilson said Gregory came to live with her from an RSPCA centre after he was born in a hedge.

While she had always wondered what happened to him, she said it had been "a sad thing" spending years not knowing, until she received a call from Cromer Vets.

"I was really nervous in that waiting room... waiting to see him again and when they brought him in, he just looked so healthy and happy and amazing, she said.

"I got down on the floor and he came over to me and rubbed his face on me... He's such a confident, happy little animal so whatever he's been through over the past six or seven years he's been met with a lot of kindness."

Emma Broughton, head veterinary nurse at Cromer Vets, said Gregory kept visiting a local residence and was cared for by staff members where he became "part of the furniture".

Posters had been put up in the hope of finding his owner but nobody came forward.

Ms Broughton said: "He'd been there for quite a while and they decided perhaps it would be best to get him scanned for a microchip... when I scanned him we found he did have a microchip and that gave us a bit of hope."

While Gregory was chipped, she said there are a lot of cats who are brought into practices and rescue centres who are not as lucky and are not chipped.

Despite it becoming law in 2024 for cats to be microchipped she said some "slip through the net" and urged owners to make sure their details are up to date, including contact numbers or if they have moved home.