An overjoyed animal lover has been reunited with her pet cat - after he was found more than 500 miles away from his home.
Sampson, a large white and brown cat, went missing from Penicuik more than a year ago.
When he stayed away overnight, owner Linda Jansen contacted police and the local vet and neighbours launched a widescale search for the cat.
However, the family began to suspect he had been stolen when they failed to find any evidence of where he might have gone.
Linda says she resigned herself to never seeing Sampson again, until last week, when she received a call from a vetinary surgery in Plymouth, saying Sampson had been handed in as a stray.
She told STV News the call left her shellshocked. She said: "I though it can't be Samson after all of this time. I said to the vet, 'has he got quite a big head, a bit like a boxer? With really broad shoulders? And the vet said, 'yeah, that's him!'
"I just about fainted when I heard. My daughter overheard me on the phone and she went screaming up to her sister and said 'Samson's been found, and you'll never guess where..."
The family has been left wondering how exactly their cat managed to travel quite so far, especially given his history of travel sickness.
However, having been brought home by a courier service, Sampson is enjoying some long awaited TLC with a family who are very glad they took the time to make sure their beloved pet was identifiable.
Samantha Kemshall from Woodlands Vetinary Surgery in Plymouth said Sampson's tale should be a lesson to other pet owners.
She said: "Obviously, it's quite important that people get their cats identichipped for this reason.
"They're vital because with cats, you can't control where they go, so the only way to be able to know if they go missing is to have them identichipped. Any local rescue home or vetinary practice will scan them and see if they're identichipped to try and locate the owner."
Last updated: 18 September 2009, 08:19
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