Five years missing – but cat owner Hannah never gave up hope!

A family from Derby has been reunited with their long-lost ginger cat after five years of heartbreak.

Samson went missing in October 2013 but Hannah Guy never gave up hope of finding him again.

Finally, her faith was restored in July 2018 when she received a call from Cats Protection’s Derby Adoption Centre saying Samson had been handed in.

Samson had been missing for five years

“I was so surprised and overwhelmed that it took a while for it to sink in,” said Hannah. “When we moved house in June 2013 one of the first things we did was to update Samson’s chip details, we even did this when our mobile numbers changed. I’m so glad we did otherwise we never would have been reunited.

“We tried everything to find him, from registering him as ‘missing’ with the microchip database, making and delivering 200 leaflets and, nearly five years on, driving past our old house on the off-chance he made his way back there."

Hannah, Oliver and Elliot were delighted to see Samson again

The whole family is relieved to have Samson back, especially Hannah’s two boys; Oliver, seven, and five-year-old Elliot.

“Oliver was heartbroken when Samson went missing and helped to deliver the leaflets. To see them all together again is so heartwarming.”

Oliver (aged two) helped put up the missing posters in 2013

In Samson’s absence, Hannah adopted another rescue cat called Bo in 2017 who fortunately welcomed Samson home like a long-lost friend.

Natasha Wood, Deputy Manager at Cats Protection’s Derby Adoption Centre, said: “Samson was handed into our centre and, as standard procedure, scanned for a microchip. To our excitement, Hannah’s details popped up and we were able to call her with the amazing news that we had Samson. It was a very emotional phone call and we both had to take a minute to calm down.

Oliver (aged seven) had missed his furry friend

“Hannah and her two boys then rushed to our centre and it was a pleasure to see them being reunited after so long.

“This really does highlight the importance of not only microchipping but also keeping the microchip up to date so more cats like Samson can be reunited with their owners.

“This year we are celebrating the centre’s 20th anniversary and stories like this make what we do so rewarding.”

Samson’s sister, Gizmo, also went missing three years ago but Samson’s return has given Hannah the hope that she too might return home one day.

For more information about microchipping, visit https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/neutering-and-vaccinations/microchipping-your-cat