Recently Drybridge vets in Coleford called Forest of Dean Cats Protection to say that a long haired grey cat had been handed in to them.

The cat had turned up at the neighbouring Tesco store in a delivery van, and a member of staff at Tesco had taken the cat to the vets to see if it was microchipped.

Thankfully, he was. The cat, who was called Smokie, was traced to an address in Worcester through the chip register. Unfortunately there was no response to numerous telephone calls so, to cover all eventualities, Karen Williams, Cats Protection’s local Lost and Found Officer took the old fashioned approach and wrote a letter to the address.

A day or two later, Karen received a call from Sally Padget, Smokie’s owner, to say the family had been away on holiday. A neighbour who had been looking after Smokie was frantic with worry and had been searching high and low for him locally.

No-one had suspected that he would have hitched a lift to the Forest of Dean in a delivery van. Sally was thrilled that Smokie was safe and could be returned to the family. She was incredibly relieved that she had him microchipped.

If it had been your cat that had played stowaway in a delivery vehicle and been driven to a different part of the country, a microchip is virtually the only way he or she could be traced. Even if the cat was handed into a vet, without a chip, no one would be any the wiser.

Forest of Dean Cats Protection strongly advise that you do have your cat microchipped and keep the details up to date on the chip register if you move.