'Never give up hope': Parent's black cat meowsteriously reappears after being missing for over 4 years, they suspect someone "rescued" their lost cat, forcing their fluffy feline to escape to get back home

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Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager
Jun 30, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

This, feline fam, is why it's crucially impawtant that you get your cats microchipped. As we learned from the Boy Scouts, it's always best to be prepurred, and if your precious pet goes missing for whatever reason, you want them to be somehow traced back to you. Or else, another kind hooman or family may "rescue" your cat, thinking that it's a stray and then you might be separated for furrever.

That's what we suspect happened in the thread below. We'll start with the good news - a pawrent and her beautiful black cat were reunited after more than four years of her feline being missing. The bad news is that we all suspect that someone took their cat in while it was on its outdoor adventure, and the cat probably had to escape to get back to its original home. This is why you don't just take cats off the street without checking for a microchip first, friends! Read through the whole thread below!

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  • 01

    Cat disappeared for 4 and a half years, turned out of the blue

    420 Vet4 Pe R
    via Everydaypsychopath
  • 02
    Everydaypsychopath So he's been checked by the vet. He has some issues. He's 18 years old to start, he's got hyperthyroidism, the worst case of fleas the vet has ever seen, and he's a bit anemic. He remembers us, and crawled in to my lap for a cuddle almost immediately. Never give up hope.
    via Everydaypsychopath
  • 03
    Zestyclose-Ruin8337 This happened to a cat of ours when I was a little kid. It just disappeared and two years later it showed back up at my aunts house down the road she had started feeding it having no clue it had been our cat.
    via Zestyclose-Ruin8337

  • Lucky for us, we've never had a cat go missing (you can't see us, but we're knocking on wood right now). We don't even want to think about it. We would be one of those pawrents who prints signs and posts them literally everywhere. Coffee shops, street poles, mailboxes, you name it, we'd flyer it.

  • 04
    Cheezburger Image 10522514176
    via Everydaypsychopath
  • 05
    Direct_Concept8302 With him just now showing up I'd suspect he was stolen and kept inside and just now escaped. The sad part is that there's the possibility that there's now a person wondering where their cat went when in actuality their parents stole the cat and it wasn't theirs in the first place. That's why chipping them has taken off lately
    via Direct_Concept8302
  • 06
    Few_Carrot_3971 This is amazing. Welcome home, kitty!
    via Few_Carrot_3971
  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10522514432
    via Everydaypsychopath
  • 08
    Indigo_222 What is he sleeping on in the last slide? It kind of looks like dry food Also congrats on being reunited with him after all this time. What was his reaction like when he first saw you?
    via Indigo_222
  • 09
    rat_haus Cat- Sup' what's for dinner? Owner- Where have you been?!?!
    via rat_haus
  • 10
    Cat- Out. Owner- It's been almost five years!!! Cat- And?
    via rat_haus

  • Now that we have written countless stories about cats being lost (and found), we've learned that it's pretty common for cats to have multiple families. They will always have one primary one, but if a cat knows it's going to get fed somewhere else, it's going to find a way to get there every once in a while.

  • 11
    [deleted] This happened to my in-laws years ago! Cat showed up a year later all raggedy, starved, and the bottom of his paws worn down to almost nothing. They theorized he accidentally got into a moving van of the neighbors, and WALKED home from two states away.
    via Reddit
  • 12
    dr... My 13yo black cat went missing today. I really hope we find him before long. 4 years is intense. Update: he was FOUND. 12hrs later. A hole. I love him so much.
    via dragonhiccups
  • 13
    devenrc Where did you manage to find him?? Side note: he looks so much like my cat Coco
    via devenrc
  • 14
    Nagash24 I'm glad he came back home alive. That's a long time...
    via Nagash24
  • 15
    I'm kinda curious why he sleeps in his litterbox. Was that something he used to do before? Was he just extremely tired? Or maybe he's had to sleep in so many uncomfortable spots that he doesn't care anymore. Or it's a sign that something's wrong with him. Physical or not.
    via Nagash24
  • 16
    peachnecctar Makes me wonder how many animals are "rescued" and the animal just wants to go home :(
    via peachnecctar
  • 17
    EnobEhtot Those poor tired looking eyes. Your cat has seen, and done, some things. Congrats on the reunification
    via EnobEhtot
  • 18
    Bocika I'm very happy that you got your cat back! My 2yo black cat disappear for 4 months and 10 days last summer. I lost hope after a month, but he returned and was waiting for me to open the door in the morning with my
    via Bocika
  • 19
    other cat. I was shocked and grateful to see him again. He was malnurished but otherwise healthy. I still have no idea where he was for that long. Either he was locked up by someone or jumped on a vehicle and was taken far away before he could get off.
    via Bocika
  • 20
    Infospy He didn't disappear, he went to college abroad on Erasmus
    via Infospy
  • 21
    Prancing RedPony Someone took them in as an indoor cat and now they ran away. Most likely someone who lives far away and it took a while to come back home
    via PrancingRedPony

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fluffy felines adoption escape animal rescue adopted feline cat rescue Lost Cat forever home Cats loving animals rescue
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