Local branch's Facebook page reunites black cat Timmy with his happy owner.

A guest post from Lynne Pothecary at our Wokingham & Bracknell Branch

We knew that his name was Timmy and that he was a lovely little older gentleman. Timmy was found on a residential street in Bracknell when he wandered through the cat flap of a house. Although he had a microchip, which was registered to an address two miles away, the address was out of date. Having contacted the existing residents at the address, they had no forwarding address for his owners.

Timmy had a small area of shaved fur on his neck, indicating that he had recently had a blood test at a local vet, possibly for a hyperthyroid condition. In the meantime, he was cared for by our own vets who undertook blood tests to check whether he did have a thyroid condition – which he did and so they put him on medication. The surgery then contacted lots of other local vets, in the hope that one of them had recently treated him, but unfortunately, none of them could confirm that.

We were at a loss as to where this lovely old chap had come from so we launched an appeal on social networks, using our Facebook page. The reaction was amazing, with the appeal reaching 3,470 people and in stepped two lovely ladies who followed our page and had seen the appeal, Emma and Linsie. They turned detective for us made it their mission to help hunt for Timmy's owners using electoral rolls.

The good news is that they managed to find Timmy's owner the very same day that we launched the appeal and he was reunited with her the following night. She was very anxious to find Timmy because he was on thyroid medication and had been missing for some time.

We were just so delighted that Timmy was able to go back to his real home, and so quickly – after just 10 days – and this story does show how important it is that your pets' microchip details are up to date!