Nuneaton family's shock after missing cat they thought dead returns home after 11 years

The Allan family in Nuneaton had given Toby the cat up for dead - until, 11 years after his disappearance, he returned



When Toby the cat went missing from his home in Nuneaton, the Allan family feared they would never see him again. They presumed, as most would, that their beloved pet was no longer in the land of the living.

But in a remarkable tale, the 14-year-old cat is now back with them at their home in the Longshoot - eleven years after he vanished. Stunned Eric Allan told CoventryLive that back in 2012, the family moved from their home in Galley Common to their current home on the Longshoot.

Toby had made them move with them but around six weeks later, he went missing. " It was my youngest son's pet, he was upset at the time, we all were.

"He (Toby) just went on his travels, then after a short while, we thought the worst," he said. "We thought he must have died."

Life went on for them and everyone else. Despite their sadness, they couldn't have expected Toby to still be around after all this time.

Then they received a call from the Coventry Cats Protection League at the weekend that left the whole family gobsmacked. "On Saturday night we got a phone call from a lovely lady called Lorraine from Coventry Cats Protection League who left a message," he said.

"I called back said and she asked if we owned a cat named Toby and asked if was he missing. I said yes, but said it was eleven years ago and we had just presumed he had died.

"She said that a young woman in Bedworth had been feeding a stray cat for a while, and she had even set up a little bed outside. This young woman had contacted the Cats Protection as she thought the cat was pregnant."

Tests confirmed that Toby, who was presumed to be a girl, was in fact a male, was not pregnant and was not a stray as he had a microchip - with the details of the Allen family on it. "We just couldn't believe it - it is just absolutely incredible that after 11 years, he's been found," said businessman Eric.

They picked up Toby yesterday (Sunday, November 26) and he has already settled back firmly into the family. "It is like he has never been away," Mr Allan said. "He is just wandering around like nothing has happened.

"He doesn't look any different. He is exactly the same.

"We can't believe it." He concluded: "It's like having an early Christmas gift."