Saturday, June 9

Winnie The Cat Was Returned After Five Years

Long haired black cat

A bizarre coincidence story today from Australia about a cat who disappeared for five years.

Sylvie Jonckeau and Patrick Renard, who lived In Melbourne, were off on holiday so their cat was sent on 'holiday' as well - to a friend's house. This was way back in May of 2007.

The friend, for some strange reason, took Winnie - that's the cat - to a local park and from here he wandered off and was lost.

Sylvie and Patrick thought he would soon be found as Winnie had been mirco-chipped and also wore a collar with their name and phone number. But no such luck. The black, long haired cat had diappeared into thin air.

Sylvie said, "I think someone just fell in love with him and kept him rather than calling me."

Life goes on and the couple moved away from Melbourne. Winnie wasn't forgotten but as the years ticked by the couple accepted that they wouldn't see their cat again.

Five years after Winnie was first lost they had a phone call. Sylvie describes it as 'one of the strangest of her life.'

The cat had turned up at a veterinary hospital and, after scanning the microchip, they were able to contact Sylvie. The micro-chip files had been updated when they moved. After five years this in itself is bizarre, but there is yet another coincidence.

Sylvie explains, "It was really weird because Patrick was actually in Melbourne when I received the phone call, and he hasn’t gone back to Melbourne since we left five years ago. We talk about coincidences but this is not a coincidence, it’s something else. I couldn’t believe it for the first day, it was unreal."

Patrick, being in the right place, was able to collect Winnie.

Sylvie added, "Winnie looked so healthy, someone must have been taking care of him. Another family must be sad that they lost him and I feel that sadness because I had to go through that myself, but we have no way to find these people."

Sylvie and Patrick had to introduce Winnie to their new family members, their sons Nao, 4, and Eliot, 14 months.

Other Cat Posts on 67 Not Out:
The Power Of Lilly The Life Saving Cat
The Cat Who Just Wouldn't Go Away
Where Do Wandering Cats Go?

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8 comments:

  1. I bet that was some reunion.
    Ironically, Winnie has the exact same eyes as my sister-in-law's cat, Sammie. Poor Sammie gets lost on her way to her food dish :)
    Strange they had no way to get in touch with the other people.

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    1. Strangely, they weren't sure if Winnie fully remembered them.

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  2. Re:
    "The friend, for some strange reason, took Winnie - that's the cat - to a local park and from here he wandered off and was lost."

    Maybe Winnie was just going for a pooh ?-)

    P.S. There's a picture of the family in this article;

    http://manly-daily.whereilive.com.au/news/story/winnie-the-cat-back-at-long-last/

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    1. Your jokes don't get any better!! Thanks for link.

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  3. Love these kinds of stories. It's interesting that the husband was in Melbourne when Sylvie got the call. I wish the cat could talk and give her his version of events!

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    1. Wouldn't that be good, if we could really talk to the animals.

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  4. Ah again. You never know who or what might turn up one day.

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    Replies
    1. ... or what's round the corner.

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