Microchip reunites Jess with his family

A missing moggie has been reunited with his family thanks to his microchip after disappearing almost 14 years ago.

Jess is now 17-years-old and vanished from a family friend’s home on Mayfield Road in May 2007. He was staying there while his owners moved into temporary accommodation which did not accept pets while they waited to move to a new house. He had been kept indoors for a month but went missing when he was let out to play in the garden.
But the adventurous all-black cat found a new home when he took shelter in the grounds of the Ryde House Group on Ryde House Drive, where residents kept him well-fed and affectionately named him Tibby.

A spokesman for the Ryde House Group said: “Tibby, as we called Jess, found his way to our doorstep around 13 years ago, and made such a regular appearance that he was dubbed ‘The Ryde Cottage Cat’. Over the last few weeks, he was starting to show his age. We were so sad to see him go but are so glad that he’s been reunited with his original owners.”
Jess was handed over to the Cats’ Protection’s Adoptions Centre in Ryde, where he was scanned for a microchip.
Owner Leigh Bateman, from Ryde, said: “We so surprised to get the call and we’re so pleased to have him home. I was quite amazed that he seems so happy after living outdoors all this time. I wish he’d been scanned for a chip sooner but thank goodness we’d kept his details up-to-date so we could be found. He’s enjoying a room of his own with plenty of food, warm blankets and all he could need. I truly can’t believe he’d back with us after all these years.”

Jo Morrison, the adoption centre’s deputy manager, said: “Jess’s story just goes to show why we microchip all cats before they leave our care. It was wonderful to be able to reunite Jess and Leigh and for him to go home to his family. It’s always a joy when we scan a cat and the scanner says it’s not only found a chip but then the details are up to date.
“My message to everyone would be ‘chip your cat’ – it makes reuniting cats and owners so much easier.”