Cat reunited after 10 years and from 260 miles away

Chubbs is an elderly, male, tabby cat missing all his teeth. His owner lives in Weymouth, Dorset, UK. That's where Chubbs lived and lives normally but he went missing about 10 years ago. He was seen by a kind person, Kelly, wondering along a main road with traffic in Greater Manchester. He was soaking wet and bedraggled. 

Kelly said that: "The day that I picked him up he was slowly walking across the main road in random directions, weaving between moving cars and narrowly being missed. He was so friendly and lovely but extremely skinny, covered in fleas, soaking wet-it had been raining heavily the night before-and generally looking like a stray.

Donna Gallagher and Chubbs. Image: The Times.

His owner, Donna Gallagher, had been distraught for a long time after he disappeared. They carried out the usual neighbourhood search and erected posters. She said: "I couldn't sleep and I couldn't stop crying". Her children were distraught.

Kelly took Chubbs to a veterinarian where they found that he was missing his teeth, covered in mats and struggling to walk. Fortunately, he had a microchip implant and the information that it contained was up to date. The chip revealed Donna's details and the veterinarian emailed her to say that he had been found.

Donna said: "When I saw Chubbs's name my heart skipped a beat". They don't know how Chubbs ended up 260 miles away but suspect that he was stolen by a tourist or tourists. He is now recovering and here is the clincher: he recognises his name when Donna calls it. I have always said that domestic cats have good long-term memories and this supports that assessment.

She said: "And he remembers his name-when I call him, his head comes straight up. He is happy now and I'm going to let him live out his older years. Until then he's going to be a very spoiled old man."