After five years of heartbreak, a family from Derby has been reunited with their long-lost cat thanks to his microchip.
The family’s much-loved ginger cat, Samson went missing in October 2013 and since then, Hannah Guy never gave up hope of finding him again. 
Her faith was restored when earlier this month, Hannah received a call from Cats Protection’s Derby Adoption Centre saying Samson had been handed in.
“I was so surprised and overwhelmed that it took a while for it to sink in, “ said Hannah. “When we moved house in June 2013 one of the first things we did was to update the microchip database, making and delivering 200 leaflets and, nearly five years on, driving past our old house and the off-chance he made his way back there.
“The whole family is so relieved to have Samson back, especially my two boys Oliver, seven and five-year-old Elliot.”
In Samson’s absence, Hannah had adopted another rescue cat called Bo 18 months ago who fortunately has welcomed Samson home like a long-lost friend.
Natasha Wood, Deputy Manager at Cats Protection’s Adoption Centre, said: “Samson was handed into our centre and, as standard procedure scanned for a microchip. To our excitement, Hannah’s details popped up and we were able to call her with the amazing news that we had Samson. It was a very emotional phone call and we both had to take a minute to calm down.
“This really does highlight the importance of not only microchipping but also keeping the microchip up to date so more cats like Samson can be reunited with their owners. This year we are celebrating the centre’s 20th anniversary and stories like this make what we do so rewarding.”
Samson’s sister Gizmo also went missing three years ago, but Samson’s return has given Hannah the hope that she might too return home one day.
