Oswestry family find cat eight years after he went missing

Debi Lumley-Edwards of Whittington received a surprising call from Identibase, a pet microchip database company, asking if she was happy to transfer ownership of her cat, Metal, to his new owner – nearly a decade after he initially went missing. 

“No - I was not happy to just transfer ownership. I wanted to know where my boy was after all this time,” said Debi. 

“I bought Metal, along with his sister Melody, as kittens for my daughter Kizzy’s 8th birthday in 2011.” 

Metal was a ‘Tuxedo cat’ – mostly black with white bib, tum and paws – while Melody was a long-haired tortoiseshell tabby. 

“The two were inseparable and lived very happily for five years with us, adored lap-cats by day, hunters by night,” said Debi. 

Metal and Melody (Image: Debi Lumley-Edwards)

“In May 2016, Metal did not turn up for breakfast and I knew something was wrong - that cat was ruled by his stomach and never missed a meal.

“I went out in the car and drove slowly down every road in Whittington in case he had been run over.  We spent months putting up posters, knocking on doors, wandering around the village in the evenings calling his name, posting on social media and sometimes going out to a suspected sighting in the middle of the night for many months.” 

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Eventually they accepted that he had been lost either by a fox or by accidentally nipping into a car – one of Metal’s more unusual habits.

Metal’s new owner later phoned Debi and told her that they had inherited the cat four years ago when they bought a house in North Shropshire and the previous occupant told them he was a stray that she had been feeding for a few years. 

Metal quickly made himself part of this new family but, because they knew he had lived there for a long time, they never checked him for a chip until then. 

Debi went to visit Metal the next day and it was an emotional reunion but felt she could not bring him home after the family adopted two new cats recently.

“It is such a bittersweet story about Metal,” said Debi.  “We are so glad that he is alive and has found himself a loving family to care for him. 

“Metal is 13 years old and has an idyllic life living with a wonderful family in a rural area as an outdoor cat.  However much Kizzy and I would love to bring him home, it would not be fair to him, to his new family or to Crotchet and Quaver, so we have to be sensible. 

“It was so wonderful to see him again and yes I cried.  He is an old boy now with a few more white hairs, but he responded to his name and really enjoyed having cuddles with me. His new family are so lovely and have invited us to visit whenever we like.”

As of today (June 10) all domestic cats will have to be microchipped before the age, it is this new law that led to the discovery that Metal was not a stray but was microchipped and had a family who had been missing him for eight years.

Debi is hoping that she can raise awareness and “prevent other families from unnecessary heartache over a lost cat which could have been reunited with its family if only someone had checked”.