By Brendan Rees
A moggy cat that disappeared 14 years ago from its Hampton Park home has been returned to its loving family.
The cat, named Pussette, wandered off from her home when she was only one-and-a-half-years-old. Owner Rhoni Halliwell was heartbroken and despite her best efforts her cat could not be found.
“My daughter had posters up and everything,” Ms Halliwell recalled.
“We went away for the weekend and cat was supposed to be fed by someone near us and didn’t get fed so she disappeared”.
Now, the adventurous cat has returned home after being found crawling in a gutter along Cairns Road – only one street away from the owner’s home at the time.
Pussette was taken to the vet at the Lost Dogs’ Home in Cranbourne West after being handed in by a Good Samaritan, where her microchip was scanned and registered to Ms Halliwell.
“Fourteen years later I moved to Mt Eliza and I got a calling saying ‘Oh just ringing you to say we’ve got Pussette’,” Ms Halliwell said.
“They said: ‘It’s definitely her, she’s got a microchip on her’ so as you could imagine I was pretty surprised and genuinely happy.
“I went down there and as soon as I saw her she just responded to me straight away.
“She’s great apart from being a little bit blind, other than that she is at home,” Ms Halliwell said.
“She has not changed. She’s got no grey hair and I’ve got lots”.
About six months after her beloved cat went missing, a vet clinic called Ms Halliwell saying they believed they had found her cat but with severe injuries – however her identity couldn’t be confirmed as there was no microchip.
“They said: ‘It’s got no quality of life now’, couldn’t walk or anything like that so cat to be put down,” she said.
“I cried for weeks thinking I had put my cat down”.
Ms Halliwell says she has no idea where Pussette has been all these years but was making the most of their lost time together.
“She’s all over me like a rat,” she said.
“She always used to head butt and the first thing she said when I opened the cage … she just leaned out and head butted me”.
Allison Brown of the Lost Dogs’ Home in Cranbourne West said she was stunned by the 14-year mystery but reiterated the importance of microchipping a pet.
“Only five per cent of cats are microchipped so our staff have a super hard time tracking down original owners,” she said.
“Pussette is in sensational condition for a cat of her age”.
