A Derby family has been reunited with their cat more than a year after she went missing. The adventurous feline, Luna, disappeared from her Allestree home in September 2023, something which owner Caroline Svitana described as a “nightmare”.
She began leafleting in her local area and notified the vet, but there were no sightings. “We had another cat, Star, and she was looking for her big sister,” says Caroline. “We leafleted all around to ask about people looking in their sheds, and we notified the vet and Petlog that she was missing.
“We scoured the local woods and the park, and friends also looked for her with their children. Slowly, we had to accept she was not coming home.” After 15 months of uncertainty, Caroline received an email whilst on holiday in Copenhagen
She continued: “My roaming wasn’t working, so I only had intermittent internet. An email popped up from a vet practice 12 miles from my home. They simply said they had information about Luna. I couldn’t call the vet, but my friend let me use her phone. The relief that she was okay was incredible.”
The email came after Luna followed a couple home, who took her to the vets. The vets checked for a microchip and found Caroline’s details, so the pair could be reunited after months apart. Luna is now settling back into her family home, with Caroline commenting: “She’s amazing. She’s exploring the house again and just enjoying being loved, in her own terms of course, like they do.
“I’m so grateful to have her home, she is starting to get her personality back, and to feel safe again, as I don’t think she could believe it herself to be honest.” Caroline has advice for other pet owners who find themselves in the same situation.
She said: “Don’t give up hope. I posted on Facebook and put leaflets anywhere; I’d still recommend that. But without the chip and Petlog, we would never have been reunited.”
A spokesperson for Petlog, one of the UK’s largest lost and found Defra compliant database for microchipped pets, Bill Lambert, added: “We’re delighted that Luna and her family have finally been reunited. We continue to urge owners to ensure that their pets are microchipped and their contact details are up to date on a microchip database, like Petlog.
“Microchips are small but effective, and give owners and pets the best chance of being reunited should the worst happen, as well as peace of mind.” A microchip is the size of a grain of rice which is inserted under the skin at the back of an animal’s neck.
“It permanently identifies pets and connects them with an owner’s contact details, which are held on a database like Petlog, enabling vets, local authorities and animal charities to scan the chip, match it to the owner’s details and reunite lost and found pets. Of course, microchipping can only work effectively if an owner’s contact details are up to date with a database.
It is a legal requirement for all dogs to be microchipped in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and from June last year it became a legal requirement for pet cats to be microchipped before they reach the age of 20 weeks and their owner’s contact details stored and kept up to date in a pet microchipping database.
Further advice about keeping your pet safe, as well as information about microchipping and how to register with Petlog, can be found by clicking the link here.