Missing cat reunited with her family nine years after going missing in Trafford

A family in Trafford have been reunited with their pet cat nine years after she first went missing. 

Marley vanished in 2012 after escaping from her harness while out for a walk and, despite putting up posters for her and searching the area, her owners sadly never saw her again.

But last week, the family received an unexpected phone call from Chorlton cat rescue charity PawPurrs Halfway House, who said Marley had been left on their doorstep after an elderly man found her straying around the Baguley area.

Charity owner Katie Hayes said while Marley was ‘filthy and matted’, she was in good health, though didn’t appear to be microchipped. However, when she checked again the next morning, a reading appeared on the scanner.

Katie Hayes / Facebook

Katie called the number on the chip and was put through to Marley’s ‘gobsmacked’ owner in Trafford, who had presumed the cat dead.

Marley, who turns twenty next month, has since been collected and will be spending her first Christmas in nine years back at her home in Sale.

Katie told the Manchester Evening News: “I couldn’t believe it. I don’t know who was more shocked, her or me… They are completely overjoyed and in shock.

“Nearly half her life she’s been straying. Someone else must have been feeding her other than the man who brought her to me.

Katie Hayes / Facebook

“I just can’t believe nobody in ten years thought to get her chip checked. Goodness where she has been for all this time.”

Katie added that Marley is an example of how important microchips are, adding: “The most important basic essential for being a responsible owner is to microchip your pets. Next is neuter and vaccinate them!

“Also, if you feed a stray, please get it scanned for a chip, as someone somewhere will be missing them. It’s taken ten years to get her home. I just hope she lives a bit longer to appreciate home comforts with her family again.

“What a Christmas miracle.”