An elderly cat which suffers with arthritis and heart problems, and was missing for several weeks from her home in Cawdor, Ross-on-Wye, has been reunited with her frantic owner, thanks to the Ross Gazette.

When Cara first went missing her owner, Valerie Freeman, searched high and low. She then decided to place an advertisement in the Ross Gazette asking for any news, good or bad. Valerie asked residents to check gardens, sheds and garages as Cara needs daily medication for a variety of health problems.

The advertisement appeared in the Gazette on June 1st, but it wasn’t until June 14th that Valerie heard any positive news.

A gentleman who lives in London, but who had been visiting his father in Greytree, took a copy of the Ross Gazette home to read. He saw the advert and realised that the cat in the picture looked very like a cat his father had been feeding in his garden for over a week.

He contacted his father and asked him to call Valerie which he did. She immediately went to take a look and was thrilled to discover her beloved pet, a little thinner and very, very stiff and sore in her back legs, but not in too bad a condition considering her ordeal.

Valerie told the Ross Gazette that although he had been feeding her, he had not been able to hold the cat to find her contact details.?She said: “The gentleman hadn’t been able to physically handle her (hence not been able to get my number from the ID tag on her collar) but he gave her food and milk, a cat bed and there were plenty of places in his garden for her to shelter.”

Valerie added:?“I just hugged her and sobbed and the man sobbed too and told me it had made his day.”

Valerie has no idea where Cara was for the first part of her adventure but was hopeful that she just needed some tender loving care to restore her to 100% condition.

She took Cara to a vet for checkup, and was relieved to find out that Cara was rather healthy, all things considered. The vet advised Valerie that they definitely need to address Cara’s weight loss, but that should go back on with regular meals.

Valerie soon contacted the Ross Gazette to let the paper know the happy ending. She added:?“I am certainly glad I took out the advert to find her, it was worth every penny.”