Purrfect end to nine lost years
Couple’s joy after missing cat finally found and back home
A Cat-loving couple will be clawing back lost time after they were reunited with their pet nine years after he went missing.
The mischievous moggy named Paddy Garfield vanished from his Longford home in 2015 when he was six years old.
But incredibly, the long-haired ginger cat is now back with his owners Paddy Farrell and his wife Lana.
The feline, who is now 15, is understood to have been living just outside of Longford town, more than 20km away from his house in Legan.
Paddy was left stunned after spotting a picture shared by a local vet of his missing pet on Facebook last month.
The 75-year-old said: “The post said it was an elderly cat and urged anybody who may have lost him to get in touch with a number attached.
“When I saw the picture of him I knew it was Paddy straight away.
“I said to my wife ‘come down and have a look at the computer’ and she said, ‘That’s Paddy’.”
“A man who had been visiting his mother had brought the cat into the vet to see if he was microchipped but he wasn’t. “The vet put the post up and I called the man who brought the cat in. I sent him some pictures I had of Paddy and straightaway he said
I’m 95% sure it’s yours.” Reliving their first meeting after nine years, he added: “I knew it was him straight away.
“My wife rang me on the way home and she was saying ‘Do you have the right cat? I’m nervous.
“When I got home and let him out she just knew it was him.”
Paddy believes his cat vanished after falling asleep in a workman’s van at the time of his disappearance.
He added: “He’s so happy to be home.
“If he could talk, he’d tell me some stories.”