THE CAT CAME BACK

AFTER FOUR YEARS . . .

AFTER years spent living rough on the streets of Hobart, Pumpkin has come home.

The ginger tomcat disappeared from his home in Richmond four years ago.

He has been living as a stray around Warrane in the years since, being fed by kind-hearted strangers.

“I can’t believe Pumpkin is home. I honestly never thought we would see him again,” his owner Sarah Honner said.

The cat was returned home at the weekend, after a Tasmanian cat rescue service picked him up from the streets and discovered he was microchipped.

“I got a call from the National Pet Register and they said ‘we’ve got your cat’,” Ms Honner said.

“I said ‘are you serious? He's been missing for four years’.”

When Ms Honner picked Pumpkin up “he looked exactly the same”.

“Apparently some kind la- dies around Warrane had been feeding him all these years, so he was in remarkably good condition.”

Hobart Feline Rescue coordinator Shelley Robson, who retrieved Pumpkin, said she was alerted to the tomcat’s whereabouts after concerned residents in Warrane became worried about the stray ginger cat’s future.

“It seemed somebody had taken it into their own hands to cull the feral cats of Warrane, so I was called to bring in the ginger cat to protect it,” Ms Robson said.

When Ms Robson checked him with a microchip scanner she was delighted he had been microchipped.

“This really proves how important it is to have your pets microchipped,” she said.

Ms Honner bought Pumpkin as a kitten 10 years ago.

But four years ago when she started building a new home for her growing family in Richmond, he escaped from the garage he was being kept in.

Ms Honner had four pets, two dogs and two cats, while the house was being built — but she lost three of her pets in the space of a month.

First her 19-year-old dog died, then her two cats disappeared within a week of each other. Ms Honner said she was grateful strangers had been so kind to Pumpkin.

When she picked him up at the weekend, he immediately responded to his name.

Ms Robson said her cat rescue service received about four calls a day from people who had either lost or found a cat.

“We rescue cats from all around Southern Tasmania,” she said.

I can’t believe Pumpkin is home. I honestly never thought we would see him again