It’s been exactly one year since Icy the cat went missing from her home in Pakuranga.
Five days before the one year anniversary of her disappearance, Icy and her owner were joyfully reunited with the help of a microchip.
“I was so shocked when I received the call. There were a lot of tears shed that day,” says owner, Julie.
“I really had given up all hope of ever seeing her again or knowing what happened to her.”
Julie says had Icy not been micro-chipped and correctly registered to the New Zealand Companion Animal Register (NZCAR), she believes she ever would have seen her again.
“I cried so many happy tears and I cannot thank the person who found her enough for doing the right thing and bringing her in to be scanned,” Julie says.
Icy was found hanging around a home in Cockle bay.
Valerie Lofthouse, who had only recently moved into the property, says she knew such a beautiful cat must belong to somebody and when she didn’t leave after a few days, she knew she must be lost.
“She was very skittish and it took me a while to gain her trust but when I did, I knew I had to find out if anybody was missing her.”
Sommerville Veterinary Centre vet nurse Jessica Muehlauer says this heartfelt reunion serves as a timely reminder to pet owners of the value of micro-chipping.
“It was such an emotional day in the clinic seeing an owner so overjoyed to have found her beloved cat,” Jessica says.
“It’s incredible to see pets and their owners being reunited even after all this time.”
And it’s not the first time she has seen micro-chips help owners find lost pets, she says.
Last year the Sommerville Veterinary Centre assisted in reuniting another cat owner with their beloved pet after she had been missing for more than two years.
“It just goes to show how valuable and important it is to make sure that your pet is micro-chipped in case they are ever lost or stolen.”
She says inserting the micro-chip is relatively inexpensive and non-invasive.
But she urges pet owners to remember that getting the microchip is just one part of the puzzle.
“Often people forget that they have to register their pet on the NZCAR website, and there’s no use having a micro-chip that when scanned shows that the pet is linked to nobody,” she says.
If your pet goes missing, she says, you can also make a note of it on your registration so that if your pet is scanned an alert will immediately pop up.
- For more information on micro-chipping call Sommerville Veterinary Centre 5370111 or visit www.animalregister.co.nz
