A much-loved Midlothian cat which had been missing for the best part of two weeks was trapped in a neighbour's bathroom all along.
Much-loved Bengal Batty has been reunited with his overjoyed family after being discovered by a resident who returned home after almost a fortnight away.
She left her house in Dalkeith's Woodburn area to allow for renovations to take place, unaware that the eight-year-old animal had snuck into her bathroom before she departed.
Owner Colin McNeil and his family – including vet wife Sharon and kids Jacob, 10, and Sam, 8, have spent the last 12-days out searching for him, putting up posters, asking neighbours if they'd seen him and phoning round the authorities. Colin says he was refusing to rule anything out – and feared the pet may even have been stolen by crooks.
However things took a dramatic turn on Wednesday morning when the dad-of-two learned Batty had been found in the most unusual of circumstances. Colin was speaking to Edinburgh Live about an article we were planning to run on the missing cat when a neighbour chapped at the door and told him the good news.
Batty was returned home dehydrated and hungry, but Colin says he will be nursed back to full health by his doting family.
He said: "We're just so relieved right now. He's thin and dehydrated but I've given him a cup and a half of water and he's just eaten a packet of cat food.
"My wife is a vet of 20 years so I'm going to see if she thinks he needs to be seen.
"Our neighbours have all been amazing in trying to help find him. He was found in our neighbour's bathroom. She's been away as renovations were taking place in her house, but he had been shut in the bathroom all along.
"I actually went along to the house to ask the workers if they had seen the cat but they hadn't. They mustn't have checked the bathroom. The bathroom has been wrecked while he's been in there."
Since arriving home the cat has been sleeping and recharging his batteries after a stressful fortnight.
Colin feared the worst when Batty went missing on Friday, July 2 and failed to return home.
He said: "I remember it was a Friday, and the rain was really heavy. He doesn't like the rain so would normally come in, but it got to Saturday morning and he still wasn't back.
"By Sunday we were out looking for him and asking neighbours if they had seen him. I don't know how many miles I covered looking for him.
"We made his disappearance as public as we could on social media. And I have to say that I'm so overwhelmed by the amount of good people that wanted to help. I cannot thank these people enough.
"I was open to all possibilities – he could've jumped in a delivery van, he could've been nicked."
Colin explained how Batty is such a big part of the family.
He added: "I've just been trying to distract my two boys from the worst possibility. He's got such a big personality. Bengals tend to be big characters and he really is.
"We've never had a cat as much fun as he is. He's so interactive. He's almost like a dog in a cat's body. He'd go out for walks with us and answer to his name.
"We joke he's like the middle brother as he's always hanging out with the kids, and sitting on their bed.
"But he's really popular with the whole street. Everybody knows him."
