Cat who has been missing for almost a year in Leeds is found just ten minutes away

Four-year-old cat Muffin managed to escape from his carrier when his family moved house in Leeds and despite his devastated owner’s best efforts to find him, he remained missing.

But then a fortnight ago, RSPCA Inspector Gemma Fowler was called to collect a cat thought to be abandoned or a stray, that local people had spotted at Nowell Mount in Harehills and had become concerned about.

The cat was underweight and sneezing and obviously unwell and as part of the RSPCA process he was scanned for a microchip which had the details connecting him to his owners.

Ms Fowler said: "His owners were over the moon to receive my call and told me how Muffin had escaped during their house move almost a year ago. They were delighted he’d been found, and amazingly, it was just 10 minutes away from their home now, and on the very road where another family member lived.

“It’s just unfortunate he hadn’t been spotted during that time, but thankfully he’s now back where he belongs with his family. I’m really glad I was able to help reunite this much loved pet with his owners."

She added that it is currently not a legal requirement for cats to be microchipped and this was only the second time in 10 years she had found a cat with a microchip and been able to return them to their owner.

The RSPCA would like to see compulsory microchipping for owned cats introduced in England and Wales and are pleased that the Government has committed to introducing this later this year. In 2020, only around 500 cats, out of more than 3,000 arriving in the RSPCA centres were previously microchipped.

Muffin's owners say he is settled into the new house, recovering and they are now hopeful that their other cat, who also went missing, might also get found.

Toni Myers said: “We’re so pleased to have Muffin back, my nine-year-old daughter cried when she heard he’d been found. Muffin’s been sleeping on her bed since he came home, and although he’ll take some time to gain weight and recover from the cat flu he caught while he was missing, he seems happy in the new home.

“Sadly, Muffin’s brother Biscuit who also escaped the carrier at the same time is still missing. Finding Muffin has given us some hope that Biscuit might be found too. He’s a large, black long haired cat with white paws. We have him listed as missing on some Leeds local missing pets social media sites so we would be really keen to hear from anyone who spots him.”