Newton Abbot man reunited with missing cat after five years

Bert the cat is back home, although he is missing his tail since his owners last saw him

A man has been reunited with his beloved pet cat, five years after he went missing.

Trevor Smee's cat Bert had not been seen since disappearing from his Devon home in 2018.

On Tuesday he got a phone-call from a vet in nearby Newton Abbot who had scanned Bert's microchip after he had been picked up as a stray.

"He's such a character, so to have him back in such a lovely condition is wonderful," Mr Smee said.

Bert went missing while Mr Smee and his wife lived in the Milber part of Newton Abbot in south Devon, but they moved to nearby Abbotskerswell a few months later.

Bert the cat is settling back into life being looked after by Mr Smee and his wife

The move ended any hopes they had of Bert coming home of his own accord.

They also have a second cat, Bambi, who they adopted from the Blue Cross rehoming centre at the same time as Bert in 2013.

Mr Smee has no idea where Bert has been or who has looked after him: "You can see how well he's been looked after - I'm not sure of the circumstances of where he lived or went to, but whoever has had him for the five years we thank them for looking after him."

Bert appears to have been well looked after since his disappearance

One change is that he has returned with his tail amputated, indicating that someone had taken him to a vet after some sort of incident.

"Bert was always a bit greedy and tended to try and snaffle Bambi's food as well, and the last time I saw him I was shooing him out of the door so Bambi could eat some of her dinner," added Mr Smee, who works as a programme coordinator at South Devon College.

"We checked everywhere but we couldn't find him.

"If it wasn't for the microchip we wouldn't have found him. It shows the importance of having your cat chipped and if you change your phone number or change your details then change them with those organisations as well."

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