The cat is back (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

The cat is back

2:54pm Tuesday 18th April 2006 in Chippenham By Sarah Singleton

Cat lover Mary Simpson says she is indebted to the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald for helping her find beloved cat Greyface over a year after he was lost.

Miss Simpson, from Page Close in Calne, lost Greyface on Christmas Eve 2004. He was so startled by the noise of seasonal fireworks he shot out of the front door and wasn't to be seen by his owner again for 16 long months.

Miss Simpson, who is disabled, said she searched for months in an effort to find him.

"I was absolutely gutted to lose him. I put up posters, asked the dog warden, phoned all the vets, the RSPCA, the Cats Protection League and even the Bath Cats and Dogs Home in case he was there. I really, really searched but I had no luck at all."

But Miss Simpson said she never lost hope, and in last week's Gazette we published her letter of thanks for a £100 donation towards her vets' fees (she has 16 cats in total) which included information about Greyface a six year old large, shorthair grey car with a clipped ear.

A friend of a district nurse who used to take care of Miss Simpson had spotted a cat she thought might be Greyface just a couple of streets away, in Abberd Way and Brook Way, where various people had been feeding him.

On Friday Greyface was brought home again after a 16-month adventure in the big wide world.

Miss Simpson said she would never know where the cat had been all those months but she was thrilled to have him back again.

"I am so happy with the Gazette and Herald, you're doing such a good job," she said.

Miss Simpson's 16 cats are all rescue cats and live with her at home with two rescue dogs and five rescue rabbits.

"I just want to help them when they've been mistreated," she said. "And some of them have been so mistreated it makes your skin crawl. I have one kitten, Boadicea, who had been painted with gloss paint," she said.