Cat reunited with owner after 13 years
A MOTHER and daughter were stunned when their beloved missing cat was found – after 13 years.
Rose, named after Billie Piper’s character in DoctorWho, had been an eighth birthday present for Gemma Barbieri’s daughter Alicia.
But the adorable black puss vanished in 2008 and 10 years later the family moved house.
So charity shop worker Gemma couldn’t believe her ears when she received a call saying Rose, 14, had been found.
She had been reported as a stray in King’s Lynn, Norfolk and was taken in by the Cats Protection’s Downham Market adoption centre.
What happened to her in the last 13 years is a mystery, but she was healthy when she was found.
The Barbieris lived in King’s Lynn at the time and Gemma felt guilty when the family moved to Thetford in 2018 “in case she came home and we weren’t there for her”.
Gemma initially rejected the charity’s call as she did not recognise the number, but said: “It rang again almost immediately so I thought it might be important. I’ll always be grateful I did.
“I couldn’t believe it when they asked if my cat had gone missing in 2008. I just blurted out, ‘Have you found Rose?’ They said a black cat brought in as a stray had been scanned and the microchip showed that she was missing. It was Rose. I was so stunned, I was shaking.”
Gemma added: “She was talking all the way home. Within an hour she’d eaten, used the litter tray, explored the house and was laying purring while I stroked her belly.
“She’s pretty much been purring ever since and has settled in completely.”
Rose has also been reunited with Alicia, who is now 21 and a student at the University of Derby, by video call.
The cat and her brother Tyler were adopted as kittens in 2007, but Tyler died a few months before Rose disappeared after being struck by a car.
Gemma said she would “absolutely recommend microchipping to anyone getting a cat, because it works”.