AUSTRALIA – A north Queensland family has a local lost and found Facebook page thanking everyone after finding their missing cat who went AWOL three years ago.
Sharon Johnson’s pure-bred white chinchilla cat, whose name is Marbles, went missing in June 2013 in Mackay.
“When I advertised him as lost on a Facebook page originally some man commented back saying ‘please help this lady she has lost her marbles’,” Ms. Johnson stated.
“For six months we dropped flyers around the houses here in the area, we put him on the lost and found Facebook page and contacted the pounds and the vets to see if anyone had picked him up.”
Having had no success at all in finding Marbles, Ms. Johnson came to the conclusion that her cat may have been run over or stolen.
https://twitter.com/ABCTropical/status/766061407351603200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
However, her family was given a bit of renewed hope recently when a familiar cat was caught by the pound a couple of streets away from her home earlier this month.
“My daughter spotted a photo on a Facebook page that the pound had uploaded,” she stated.
“She sent it to me saying ‘do you think it could possibly be Marbles?’
“It was!”
“I never ever thought we would see him again so it was amazing that after three years we were getting him back.”
Despite bearing a similar to social media sensation Grumpy Cat, Ms. Johnson said Marbles was, in fact, a very affectionate cat.
“My sons were so glad to have him back and my grandkids just think he’s amazing,” she stated.
Ms. Johnson put a post on social media after being reunited with her family’s cat last week.
“I got over 100 comments back from people saying it’s given them hope that they’re going to find their pet one day,” she said.
So, where did Marbles go?
Although Marbles still appeared to be the same affectionate cat Ms. Johnson last saw way back in 2013, his appearance had drastically changed when they retrieved him from the pound.
“He was rotten; he was matted down to the skin and he stunk like anything,” she explained.
“He went straight to the vet and had a nice clip and shampoo.”
Despite his distinct odor and unkempt fur, Ms. Johnson believed he was being fed by someone while he was astray because he did not return undernourished.
“They should design cat cams for cats so you can see what they get up to,” she stated, tongue-in-cheek.
Marbles is now micro-chipped and registered with the council.
“So if he ever goes missing again hopefully it won’t be for three years,” Ms. Johnson concluded.
