Cat missing for nine years in Leicester reunited with owner

Spike returned from nine years on the streets with nothing but an eye infection to show for it

A cat owner was "shocked and amazed" to be reunited with her pet - nine years after he disappeared.

Spike wandered off from home in Leicester in 2010 with his sister Ruby when they were kittens.

Ruby was found dead some time later and it was assumed her brother had met the same fate.

But last month, owner Victoria Roberts was delighted to hear the feline was alive and well and living 15 miles down the road.

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Ms Roberts said Spike and Ruby were just three months old when they left home in Humberstone.

Spike and Ruby had been exploring their garden when they disappeared

The 36-year-old nurse said when she was traced through a microchip and told Ruby had been run over, she assumed the same had happened to Spike.

But it turned out Spike had been living as a "long-term stray" in nearby Shepshed where he was being fed by friendly neighbours.

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"It came as a huge shock when the RSPCA contacted me to say they had found Spike and he was able to come home," she said.

"We were also surprised he was found about 15 miles away from where he went missing and assume he may have hitched a ride in a car or someone took him but then didn't want him.

"It is amazing to think he survived all these years outside and, apart from an eye infection, which was treated, appeared in good health."

Ms Roberts said Spike had now settled back into home life