Missing Coventry cat found after missing for 11 years

A cat has been found after it went missing from his Coventry home 11 years ago.

Chloe McCrea was devastated when her cat Bandy went missing after being let out in Keresley on Bonfire Night in 2013.

But Bandy didn’t get far and was spotted at a vet surgery 13 miles away in Solihull earlier this month.

He had adopted a loving new family, and Mrs. McCrea gave her blessing for him to stay with them.

Bandy was found by a woman in a cemetery in Solihull about two weeks after he went missing. She couldn’t take care of him, so she gave him to her mother.

He lived with the family for more than a decade, under his new name, Tigger, and his microchip was not removed.

His past life was only discovered when the family took him to be carved before the new guidelines.

Mrs McCrea visited him at a vet in Solihull after receiving the call.

“I was in absolute shock and ecstasy,” she said.

“It was like he came back from the dead, because I was sad for him, I thought he was dead.”

“I like to think he remembered me, but he’s very friendly. He sat on my lap for quite a long time,” she added.

Despite the emotional reunion, Mrs. McCrea decided to leave Bandy with his new family.

“When she found out his new owner, she was devastated. She thought she was going to lose him,” she said.

“We’ve known him for a year and she’s invested so much in him. We have two kids, two dogs, we have his brother and another cat. It probably wouldn’t be fair to bring him back,” she continued.

She exchanged numbers with the new owner so they could exchange pictures.

“Knowing that nothing untoward happened and that someone was looking after him all this time is the best outcome you can hope for,” she said.