Beloved cat and owner reunited after nine months

12 December 2017

Pet wellbeing charity PDSA highlight importance of microchipping

A Bournemouth cat who went missing for nine months has returned home to his delighted owners, thanks to his microchip.

Black and white cat Pryia went missing in October last year, leaving owner Nicola Randall (40) from Bournemouth, devastated.

Nicola said: “Pryia wasn’t the type of cat to wander off but then one night last year, he didn’t come home.

“We did everything we could to try and find him. We called every vet in the area, put out posters, as well as messages on Facebook, but we had no joy. After months and months of searching, we lost hope of ever seeing him again.”

“But suddenly out of the blue, nine months later, we had a call from PDSA to say they’d found him. I burst into tears, I couldn’t believe it!”

Pryia was found by a local resident and was taken to Bournemouth PDSA Pet Hospital to be checked over. Thankfully, Pryia had been microchipped, and his details were up to date, so the charity were able to trace him back to his grateful owners.

Uwe Holz, Vet at Bournemouth PDSA, said: “Pryia was bag of bones and severely malnourished when he was brought in and definitely needed some TLC. His tail was so badly injured that it had to be amputated, but after some recovery time and lots of food, he’s on the mend and making a great recovery.

Uwe added: “Pryia’s story really highlights the importance of microchipping and keeping your details up to date, as it would have been impossible to find his owner without this. While it’s a legal requirement to microchip dogs, it often gets overlooked when it comes to cats.

“Thanks to our PetWise for Cats scheme, kindly funded by the Marchig Animal Welfare Trust, PDSA has been able to microchip 92,495 cats like Pryia for free over the last 3 years. Many lost pets that may otherwise never be reunited with their beloved owners will now be found safe and sound.”

PDSA’s 2017 PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report revealed that 36% of cats are not microchipped, meaning many cats are unlikely to be reunited should they get lost. Microchips are the size of a grain of rice and take a couple of seconds to insert.

Nicola concluded: “The team of vets at PDSA were brilliant, I can’t thank them enough. He’s getting used to life without a tail and is back to his normal self now we have him home. Having Pryia back is a real miracle and we’re over the moon to have him home!”