A lucky cat has been reunited with his owner in Leeds after going missing for more than two years.
Blackjack went missing in early 2017 after being let out of his home on a narrowboat on the Aire and Calder Navigation at Thwaite Mills, near Leeds.
Owner Rachael Pawley spent months searching for her beloved pet and even thought she'd spotted him at Leeds Parcelforce depot, but he never responded to her calls.
Rachael then moved to a new house in Yeadon, and gave up hope of ever seeing him again.
Now more than two years later, Rachael received a call to say the five-year-old kitty had been found - with a Leeds vet able to track her down via his microchip.
Animal charity Cat Action Trust found Blackjack with two sets of kittens they had been tracking - and it appears he's the father.
'We knew it was unlikely we’d ever see him again'
Ironically Blackjack had been booked in to be neutered before he went missing!
Rachael said: "Blackjack has always been adventurous and would sometimes disappear for a week or two, but when the months started to pass, we knew it was unlikely we’d ever see him again.
"We’d just booked him in to be neutered and it almost felt as though he could sense it, and that’s why he ran away!
“Although I occasionally thought I spotted him when we were driving past the Parcelforce depot and stopped to check, he never came to me, so I presumed I must have been mistaken.
“However, that’s where Cat Action Trust found him. The charity was tracking two sets of kittens living in the depot and Blackjack was with them, and it looks like he’s their dad – so at least he didn’t shun his responsibilities as a parent!"
Cat Action Trust took the runaway cat to White Cross Vets in Roundhay to be neutered before he was reunited with Rachael and his sister Molly, who also lives with her.
Catherine Gordon, from White Cross Vets, said: "Blackjack being reunited with his owner after all this time reinforces how important it is to microchip pets and keep their contact details up to date.
"Without this, Rachael would have always wondered about what could have happened to Blackjack.
"This case also shows that despite his best efforts, Blackjack couldn’t avoid being neutered, even though he soon realised it’s a quick and easy operation that’s nothing to be afraid of!"
Rachael, who has a dog walking business called Bob and Pals, added: “We couldn’t believe it when we saw him again and although he was scared at first when we brought him home, he quickly settled again.
"Unfortunately, he can’t go out anymore because he now has feline immunodeficiency virus, which is like HIV, but only affects cats, and there’s a chance he could spread the disease, so he has to be an indoor cat now."
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