Missing Shrewsbury cat reunited with owners after two years
A Shropshire cat that vanished without a trace two years ago has been reunited with his delighted owners, thanks to being microchipped.
The team at Quarry Vets was able to reunite Schrödinger with the Pattenden family after he was brought into the practice in Brassey Road as a stray.
The 10-year-old black and white cat went missing in 2021 and after a long search the family had given up hope of seeing their beloved pet again.
When Schrödinger was brought into the practice, the team was able to scan his microchip and check the relevant registration database, which showed he was missing.
Vet Neil Williams, one of Quarry Vets clinical directors, said: “We were delighted that we could then contact Schrodinger’s owners and let them know we had their cat.
“His story shows how important it is to have your pets microchipped, and we’re currently raising awareness of a change in the law that will make it compulsory to have cats chipped from June next year.
“If your pet is microchipped, it improves your chances of being reunited with them if they go missing or are involved in an accident, as long as you keep your contact details up to date on the database. Microchips are safe, easy to implant and effective and unlike collars and ID tags they don’t come off and don’t put your cat at risk of injury.
“Cats can be chipped at any age, but the easiest time is when they are kittens and are booked in for neutering at four months of age, so the procedure can be performed while they are anaesthetised.”
Schrödinger had lived with physics teachers Jane and Paul Pattenden, and their sons Adam and Joe, at Shrewsbury School for eight years but went missing soon after they moved back to their own house in nearby Radbrook in 2021.
Jane said: “One day he disappeared and didn’t come back and we think he may have been disorientated in his new surroundings or went looking for his old home.
“We put up lots of posters and asked friends and neighbours to look out for him and, while there were lots of sightings of large black and white cats, we never found him.
“We didn’t want to give up on him, but it seemed likely he’d been adopted by another family or involved in an accident. Then, completely out of the blue, we got a call from Quarry Vets to say he’d been found - it was almost two years to the day since he’d gone missing.”
Schrödinger was in good health when he was found but Jane says he had lost 2kg in weight, was very hungry and slept a lot for the first few days he was back at home.
She added: “We think for at least the last few weeks or months he was living as a feral cat and he’s now quite nervous of anyone new. However, he’s slotted back into family life like he’s never been away, and it’s so good to have him back.
“I am so grateful to the person who took Schrödinger into the vets, and to Quarry Vets for getting in touch with me. They were so kind and kept him in overnight for me, because although I was desperate to see him, I was away and not able to get back in time to collect him that evening.
“We rehomed Schrödinger from Shropshire Cat Rescue and we had to agree to have him neutered and microchipped. If he hadn’t been microchipped, or if we hadn’t updated our details on the database, we might never have been reunited.”
Microchipping will become compulsory for the cats in England from June 2024 under the Action Plan for Animal Welfare. Under the legislation, cats must be microchipped before they reach the age of 20 weeks and their contact details stored and kept up to date in a pet microchip database. Owners found not to have microchipped their cat will have 21 days to have one implanted or may face a fine of up to £500.
Microchipping has been compulsory in dogs aged over eight weeks old in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland since 2016.
