Cat reunited with owners six years after going missing in car crash

A cat has been reunited with her owners six years after she went missing following a car crash in Perthshire.

Mary Bowie and her husband, Billy, were relocating from Essex to Aberdeenshire when they were involved in a crash outside the village of Errol in 2020.

Pandora, who was adopted alongside her sister Ziggy as kittens from the RSPCA in 2017, had her cat basket thrown from the van after it rolled several times.

“I didn’t see the accident as we were a mile or so behind, but obviously it was an enormous shock when we arrived at the scene”, Mary, who was in another car, said.

“The attending paramedics confirmed that – miraculously – Billy wasn’t badly hurt.

“When we realised Pandora was missing, we were absolutely distraught. We spent some time looking for her, but because Billy needed to rest and recuperate, we reluctantly had to continue on our journey.”

Mary and Billy returned to the crash site, about two and a half hours from their new home, to search for Pandora.

However, she could not be found.

“We sent a message to a local Facebook group and – thanks to Pandora’s distinctive blue and green collar – there were a few confirmed sightings, but no one was able to catch her. We also made several trips to Errol, but to no avail.”

Six years later, a woman called Cats Protection charity to report a cat who kept trying to get into her house, so volunteer Fiona Morrison went out to investigate.

Fiona explained: “I went to the lady’s garden and, to make it easier to scan the cat, I put some food down which she basically inhaled. I knew instantly this was a stray rather than a neighbours’ cat who had wandered over, which is usually the case.

“I scanned for a microchip and was delighted to see that there was one.

“When I entered the details into the chip database, I was relieved to see there was some contact information listed, although slightly surprised that the contact address was in Fraserburgh, quite some distance from Perth!

“I have been volunteering for Cats Protection for twenty-six years, but reuniting Pandora with her family has undoubtedly been the highlight for me. Everyone was in tears – it was so emotional in the best possible way.”

Mary and her family were celebrating her birthday when they got a “miraculous” phone call from Cats Protection Perth.

“I could hear her say Cats Protection Perth, but that’s around ten miles away from Errol, where we lost Pandora, so I didn’t dare to hope”, Mary said.

“But then Shannon gave a thumbs up, and I knew that Pandora had been found. There were a lot of very happy tears that afternoon.”

A few days later, Mary and her husband travelled to the branch to collect her.

Mary said that Pandora has “settled back in wonderfully” and knows that she remembers them.

“She immediately responded to her name, and she is still very attached to our grandson”, she added.

“Obviously all that time spent sitting on my daughter’s belly when she was pregnant has created a special bond.

“We can’t thank Fiona at Cats Protection enough for everything she did to get Pandora home. We are also still in touch with the lady who made the initial phone call – we are so grateful to her too.”