Woman reunited with her cat after 17 years because of microchip

Kim Collier's vanished cat - Tilly was never forgotten. Kim anxiously put up posters and looked for her missing cat after moving from England to Midlothian, Scotland, in 2004. Even though Tilly was nowhere to be found, Kim’s heart still had hope.

It was meant to be

Kim meticulously updated the cat's microchip information over two further house changes over the next 17 years. And her efforts paid off, everything changed this week when she received a surprising phone call. The SSPCA contacted Kim out of the blue, asking if she had a cat named Tilly. The vet nurse told Daily Record:

I was thinking “I did but ages ago”. The officer said she had her in the back of the van and I was like “what?”

Tilly had miraculously been discovered in the exact spot where she had gone missing 17 years before. A concerned member of the public had alerted the SSPCA after seeing the cat, which was in desperate need of medical attention. Tilly will turn 20 this year and has a bladder tumour and is at the end of her life. According to the woman who found her, she was covered with dirt and was skin and bone. At the Pentland Veterinary Clinic, Tilly is getting palliative care. Kim plans to bring her home once she regains her strength so they may spend the cat's final days together. Kim added:

I’m not going to give up on her. All the staff here [at the clinic] are so nice and have taken her under their wing.

According to Kim, others who have lost pets should update their microchip information, and everyone should be on the lookout for possible lost animals.

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Why is microchipping important?

With one in every three pets going missing at some point, these small chips are your pet's best chance of being found and returned safely home. While collars and tags can aid in the reunification of lost pets with their families, they can easily slip off or be removed, and name tags can fade with time. Microchips are the most permanent and reliable form of identification. Microchipped dogs are more than twice as likely to be returned to their owners, while microchipped cats are more than 20 times as likely.

Your pet can be scanned for a microchip and your contact information can be accessed on a national database if they go missing and end up at an animal shelter or vet facility. This database is password-protected, and access requires an application, so your information is absolutely safe.