Alfie, a 10-year-old cat, was rescued by the RSPCA after being stuck in a 10cm gap between two brick conservatories in Portsmouth. Alfie had been missing for almost four years before being reunited with his owner Mandy Davis. The rescue operation on 15 March 2026 took five hours and involved the RSPCA and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
Alfie was microchipped, which enabled the RSPCA to reunite him with his owner. A local vet sedated Alfie to enable the rescue and minimise distress. Rescuers made a special contraption to administer the injection in the confined space.
My cat was home at lunchtime and dead by teatime.
It took three people to pull Alfie out, and he came out unharmed. Since June 2024, it has been a legal requirement in England for owned cats over 20 weeks to be microchipped. The RSPCA advises that microchipping is the best way to ensure cats can be reunited with owners if lost or stolen.
Zeffa, a 12-year-old cat, was reunited with his owner in Canberra more than six years after going missing. Zeffa escaped around 2017 on the same evening as a large storm hit the region, shortly after his family moved to Canberra. Zeffa's owner, a former vet nurse, assumed he was dead after no one contacted her despite him being microchipped.
Microchips don't mean anything. Nothing was done to check medical history.
Zeffa arrived at the RSPCA ACT shelter on 9 January as a stray but seemed friendly and comfortable around people, indicating he had been living in a home. Felix, a cat, went missing in 2019 and was reunited with his family six years later after being brought to the RSPCA Milton Keynes and North Bucks as a stray. Felix was microchipped, and the microchip was registered as missing and still linked to the family's contact information.
The family had assumed Felix had passed away after years without answers. Felix was found rather close to where the family lives, perhaps a 5-10 minute drive away. The family spent hours looking in the area when Felix first went missing.
I don't hold a grudge against whoever cared for him, but I remind people to take lost animals to a vet or RSPCA immediately.
The reunion was emotional with tears and tight hugs. Felix appeared thrilled to be back with his family. Felix will be on strict house arrest and gradually introduced to new pets the family got while he was missing.
The RSPCA staff called the reunion a Christmas miracle. The TikTok video about Felix reached over 26,000 views, 1,970 likes and 20 comments. Nearly one in three pets will go missing in their lifetime.
I don't think he was stolen.
Only about one in 50 cats entering animal shelters are returned to their owners, but that number jumps to nearly two in five when microchipped, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. However, microchipping does not guarantee a reunion, as the case of Gizzy shows. 30pm.
Gizzy was taken to the RSPCA centre in Leybourne by a neighbour. The neighbour was told Gizzy would be held for seven days while attempts were made to contact the owner. Gizzy was transferred to Meopham Veterinary Hospital, where notes recorded she was emaciated, open-mouth breathing and had 'likely been a stray for some time'.
The RSPCA said attempts were made to contact the registered owners before Gizzy was euthanised, but the family was unable to respond in time. The decision to euthanise Gizzy on welfare grounds was made by an independent vet who decided it was the kindest thing to prevent further suffering. Gareth Knowler's wife Lucy called the vet shortly after 5pm to arrange collection and was told Gizzy had been put down.
The family dispute the veterinary assessment and say Gizzy's frail condition was due to old age and recent illness. The family believe stress during transport may have affected Gizzy's breathing. Photographs taken the day before show Gizzy comfortable at home.
Gizzy has been cremated and her ashes returned to the family. There has been a steady stream of people looking for lost pets on Facebook Community Groups following recent thunderstorms. Pets often get startled by thunder, lightning and heavy rain and panic and get lost.
Taking a found animal to a vet or RSPCA for microchip scanning won't cost anything.