Home after a year

[changedusernameforthis1]

A year ago our lovely ginger cat just vanished. We were devastated, the kids were heartbroken and eventually we just accepted that he was gone and stopped posting in local groups about him.
Today he came home, just like nothing happened! He's very thin and scraggly but has eaten plenty since coming home - now happily purring with all the attention he's getting. Seems okay apart from obvious weight loss and a small lump on one side of his face but we're getting him in the vets for a check up.

I almost can't wait to see the kids faces when they get home!

Ah that's wonderful op!! We had one come back after 6 months. It blows your mind doesn't it?

Oh wow, what a wonderful result! Can we see the little scoundrel? Where do you think he’s been?

Wow! That's amazing. Shame he can't tell you where he's been.

Friends of mine had one come back after 5 years. Although, she'd been catnapped by a neighbour.

do you have any other cats?

Oh how lovely.

That's lovely news! I'm happy for you. Let's see a photo?

Lovely news!

Thank you everyone! No idea where he's been. We have two other cats who immediately ran up to him when they saw him. It's so lovely having him back 😊

(Please excuse the laundry in the photo, I promise it's clean!)

Brilliant news!

He's a little beauty. He must be so glad to be home.

What a mystery cats can be

It's times like this I really wish they could talk !
I bet your dcs are going to be over the moon.

I know it's hard but would it be better to get the lump checked out by the vets before your dcs know he is home . I really really hope it's nothing serious but if it is the heart break would be awful .

Aww, that's brilliant!! I wonder where he's been!

How lovely! Enjoy having him home 🥰

Lovely news - if only they could talk 🤣.

And gorgeous cat BTW.

What a marvellous story, what a brilliant result! Love that your other cats greeted him too!😻
How did your kids react @changedusernameforthis1 ?

That's amazing!

If he isn't already, get him microchipped ( it's a legal requirement now anyway ) as it could prove useful if he ever goes missing again in the future.

what lovely news !

Awww, how awesome is that!! If only he could tell you what he's been up to.

Yeah but cats are such fibbers. He'll tell you that she was on Black Ops behind the lines. Can't give you details cos then he would have to kill you. Shush, top secret.

Lovely to see him home, though.

Shouldn't that be Ginger Ops in this case? 🤣

I had one that came home after 5 months, thin scraggly, covered in ticks but fine.

A few years later she was limping badly on her back leg. An x-ray showed that at some point in the past she had broken her hip and it had healed badly.
I think that must have been when she went missing. Although when she came back she wasn't limping at all.
I'd love to know how she ate and what she did to keep going for those 5 months, if she did have a broken hip, and why she didn't come home sooner. (we were in the countryside and she did roam a long way from home)

After she came back she became a complete lap cat and hardly left the house, having been a bit antisocial before.

Amazing! My cat babies are my world so I can’t imagine how this has been.

I think @changedusernameforthis1 that my brother knows you in real life as he messaged me about this! If not, huge coincidence! (Do not be alarmed, I have no stalker tendencies). If you live in a town with an “N” though it is definitely same cat/story.

We are a big cat loving family so cat stories get shared on the family WhatsApp 😂

He's had lots of cuddles with the kids who are over the moon - thankfully nothing serious with the lump, they said he's been bitten so he has antibiotics. He's been de-flead and wormed (and hates everyone for this) and he's quite underweight so we're filling him up carefully.

To the PP who said about the broken leg - he has a small kink in his tail which the vet said looks like it was trapped pretty badly and healed wrong. So he's a bit of a wonky boy but he's our wonky boy 😅

I live in West Yorkshire so I don't think it's me, but possible as I've been telling everyone 😂