A FAMILY are over the moon but still in shock after being reunited with their missing cat SIX years after she disappeared.

Becky Scott, who lives with her husband, Jason, 37, and their son, Mason, ten, thought the family’s beloved black cat, Fern, was dead after giving up their search a few months after she vanished in August 2013.

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But to the family’s disbelief, Jason took a call from Medivet’s 24 hour Southend branch on Sunday - more than 2,000 days after Fern disappeared - who told them their cat had been handed in.

Becky said: “We are still in shock. I was speaking about her three weeks ago to a friend.We just can’t believe it.

“My husband got a phone call from Medivets Sunday night about 7pm and We initially thought it was some kind of prank call.

“They said: ‘Are you missing a cat called Fern?’ and he said: ‘Yeah but that was years ago’.

The family were reunited with Fern within an hour and now want to tell other pet owners who have lost their animals not to give up hope.

The 36-year-old, of Sydervelt Road, on Canvey, added: “We were planning to move house and one day I saw a black cat come into the garden and go off again, and I wasn’t sure if it was Fern.

“I didn’t want us to move out in case she came back to us but we didn’t see her again. After a couple of months we started to think she was dead. The last thing we ever thought was that she would be found six years later.

“We want to give others hope to never give up on their lost pets.”

The couple who found Fern, Melanie Smith, 35, and Alan Graveling, 55, of Inverness Avenue, in Westcliff, were also in shock to find out the stray cat was from all the way in Canvey.

Melanie said: “Me and Alan came home and Fern was there greeting us and ‘miaowed’, so we gave her a stroke.

“Then she came back but this time made herself known that she wanted to come in. We thought we had seen her in the area before with other cats scavenging. So we put our German Shepherd dog away, let Fern in and gave her some of our dog food as that’s all we had but she ate the lot - she was very underweight.

“After that she was wandering around in the flat and wouldn’t leave, she had no collar or tag on and we thought we can’t just leave her to go back out on the street. She was so thin something just told us not to her go.”

“We took her to Medivet where they scanned her and it came up that she was micro chipped so we thought we were about to send her back to owners that could’ve been neglecting her.

“Then we found out Fern was from Canvey which was a major shock. Becky has since got in touch with us and was so grateful. It feels really good to have helped reunite them.”

The thrilled owners, who got Fern when she was an eight-week-old kitten, also have Fern’s brother, Reggie, who was less than impressed at his sister’s return and even snubbed her as she walked into the room.

But Mrs Scott says he will just have to get used to it.

Katie Rolph, deputy head veterinary nurse at Southend Medivet, said: “We are delighted that Fern has now been returned to her owners and we hope this story highlights the importance of micro chipping.”

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