Barnaby, a cat missing for eight months, reunited with his family after his owner recognized the feline’s distinct meow in the background of a phone call.
On Jan. 11, the missing pet’s owner, Rachael Lawrence, was on the phone with her local Vets4Pets veterinary practice regarding her other cat, Torvi, who had recently had an operation. Lawrence, 40, heard a meow in the background during the call.
The mom of three thought the meow sounded familiar and asked the vet if it had come from Torvi. The vet responded that the meow belonged to a stray cat brought to the practice by a Good Samaritan.
Lawrence ended the call but couldn’t stop thinking about the meow and wondered if it could have belonged to her missing cat Barnaby.
“There was just something about the meow, so after three hours of it being in my head, I rang back up,” Lawrence told SWNS.
She called the vet back and asked if the meowing stray cat had black fur with a distinctive white blotch on his back foot — just like Barnaby — and couldn’t believe it when the vet told her that her description matched the stray cat.
“It was just utter disbelief from them and me. When I went to pick up Torvi, I asked to see this stray cat and brought photos of Barnaby with me, ” the owner added.
Lawrence confirmed with the vet that the stray was indeed Barnaby and enjoyed a happy reunion with the cat. The feline is now back home with his loving family, who is showering him with food and affection to help him gain back the weight and confidence he lost while out on the street.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening. I just cried when I saw him, full-on. I just couldn’t believe it,” Lawrence said of the reunion.
“They brought him into the room, and I just straight away picked him up and knew it was him. I was sobbing, just absolutely howling,” the mom of three added.
In 2020, Lawrence paid for an independent company to come to her home and implant a microchip in Barnaby should he ever go missing. The owner registered the microchip details online, but it wasn’t until Barnaby went missing that she discovered the microchip did not work.
Before taking Barnaby back home, Lawrence had the vet microchip the cat and verified the chip worked. Now, Lawrence feels confident Barnaby will not go missing again.
“I got him chipped by the vet as soon as we were reunited, and we’re just so happy that we’ve got him home. He’s now eating really, really well, so we just need to get him back to full health,” Lawrence said.
The owner added that Barnaby is “a little worse for wear” and “is on high alert all the time,” but is starting to get used to the comfort of home again.
“He’s absolutely lovely,” Lawrence said of how the cat is overall.