Fife family reunited with beloved cat Smoke after he'd been missing for five years

Bengal cat Smoke was separated from his owners in 2018 when he was just under two years old.

After five years, the beloved pet is now back home and his owners are encouraging others to make sure their pets are microchipped and their details kept up-to-date.

When the family first got Smoke, owners Kev and Janet had brought him home with two of his littermates, Siler and Charcoal.

But in 2018 they were left devastated when Smoke went missing.

Kev said: “When Smoke was taken, the loss was felt not only by us, but by the remaining two brothers who used to look around the house for Smoke weeks after he disappeared. I’m not convinced Silver ever got over the loss, sadly Silver developed a tumour and had to be put to sleep seven months before Smoke returned.”

Immediately after Smoke disappeared, the family put up posters around the local area and knocked on neighbours’ doors to ask if they had seen the cat. Janet contacted the local cat shelter who shared pictures and a description of Smoke on social media which led to lots of leads, but none resulted in finding Smoke. As time went on, possible sightings seemed to slow.

Kev continued: “We became less hopeful and we began to feel that the chances of getting him back were dwindling. We just hoped he was given a good life, wherever he was.”

In 2022, the family moved house and Kev updated their contact details with Petlog, the database Smoke was microchipped with, in the hope he may one day be found.

Five years and two months after Smoke went missing, Kev received a call out of the blue from a vets practice in a town ten miles away. The vet said they had his cat.

Kev said: “It took me by surprise because Charcoal was asleep upstairs, but when the vet said it was Smoke, who had been brought in for minor treatment, scanned and traced to us via the Petlog microchipping database, that was a shock to say the least. I didn’t quite want to believe it until I had seen him.”

On arriving at the vet, Kev and Janet were told the couple who had brought Smoke in had been looking after him and keeping him indoors for the last five years around three miles from his home.

Smoke is now back at the family’s new home and he’s settling back in.

Kev continued: “The meeting with his remaining brother, Charcoal, was handled with care and despite worries about them possibly not getting on they obviously remembered each other through scent and re-bonded within a couple of days.

"Smoke is a very traumatised cat, he’s getting used to being outdoors again, though he is scared of his own shadow, noises, sudden movements and smells. It could be a long process but I’m sure we’ll get there. We have only had this second chance with Smoke because he was chipped and our contact details were kept up to date.”

Bill Lambert, spokesperson for Petlog, said: “We’re so pleased that Smoke has been reunited with all his family because of his microchip, and their story is a great lesson for owners to keep their contact details up to date with their microchip database, no matter how much time has passed.”