Stray cats reunited with their owners

Two stray cats have been reunited with their worried owners within days of each other.

Both pets were treated at our animal hospital in Merton after being handed into The Blue Cross.

Because they weren’t microchipped or wearing collars with identification, we had no way of knowing whether the cats had loving owners looking for them.

But thanks to a stroke of luck both owners were traced and now staff are calling on people to make sure their pets are microchipped.

Gizmo (left) was found by a passerby wandering around with a gash on his tail.

He was treated for the wound, given antibiotics and was set to go to one of our adoption centres when his concerned owner got in contact to see if we had her missing pet.

Charlotte had recently moved house and Gizmo had wandered off. She says: “I was so worried, I was in pieces because I didn’t know what had happened to him.

“We kept coming back to the old house but we couldn’t find him. Then a friend who still lived in the area said she had seen a poster saying ‘found – stray cat’.

“I called The Blue Cross and they said they had a ginger and white tomcat which got my hopes up. When I arrived and saw him it was such a relief.”

Charlotte adds: “Gizmo is back to his normal self but we’re not letting him out until he settles into to his new home. He’s now booked into be microchipped.”

Polka was suffering from an irritable bowel. Someone found her on the street and because she was looking poorly they thought she was a stray.

Her worried owner had put posters up in her street saying her cat was missing and the finder saw them and got in touch to say they’d handed a similar cat into The Blue Cross.

Luckily the pair were reunited and Polka has now been microchipped.

Veterinary nurse manager at Merton, Tamsin Durston, says: “This is a happy ending for these two pets and their owners but this really highlights the importance of having your pet microchipped.

“Polka was actually going to be transferred to an adoption centre that same afternoon and I told her owner that if the cat was microchipped she could have had her back the first day she arrived but instead she nearly lost her forever.”

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