RVN reunited with long-lost cat issues clear microchip message

An RVN is urging pet owners to keep their microchipping details updated after she was reunited with her cat – 13 years after it went missing.

Jade Yhnell, principal nurse manager at Vets Now Swansea, received a call out of the blue from Fishguard Veterinary Services after her cat, Minx, was brought in as a stray.

Minx went missing in Bristol – almost 150 miles from Fishguard – in 2012, but Mrs Yhnell still had the same phone number registered to her microchip.

Inspire

Mrs Yhnell hopes Minx’s story will inspire others. She said: “The importance of people keeping their telephone numbers and addresses up to date, just to give them the chance of being reunited, is the biggest message I think I want people to take away from hearing about her.”

She said it is “really frustrating” when microchipped animals are brought into practice with outdated details – especially if they need to be euthanised without owner consent – adding: “I find that really hard.”

Microchipping cats and dogs has been a legal requirement in England since last year, but it is not mandatory elsewhere in the UK.

Prior to the legislation’s introduction, PDSA estimated in its 2024 PAW Report that more than one-fifth (22%, around 2.4 million) of pet cats in England were not yet microchipped.

‘Vital tool’

A Defra spokesperson said: “Microchipping is a vital tool to increase the likelihood of lost pets being returned home. Cat and dog owners must register with an approved microchip database to avoid potential fines.”

Minx – hand-reared by Mrs Yhnell from birth – went missing aged five shortly before the nurse and her family moved back to Wales.

Mrs Yhnell said she was heartbroken to depart without the cat, which they continued to search for whenever they returned to Bristol.

The RVN “instantly burst into tears” after receiving the unexpected call from Fishguard.

Magic reaction

On her reunion with Minx, she said: “It was just her again and she definitely recognised me, she was head-butting me. I think that the reaction from the room was magic, they were all just so excited and she was purring.”

Minx’s reunion with Mrs Yhnell’s husband was similarly emotional. She said: “The noise that she made when she saw my husband was spine tingling, you wouldn’t believe it. She was screaming, she was so excited.

“We were just incredibly lucky to have her back.”

The nurse brought the now-18 year old cat to her practice for treatment, as she was emaciated and flea ridden, adding: “The burden was incredible, one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”

Around 10 days after her return, further examination of Minx revealed she had cancer, as a considerable mass growing under her tongue, making eating difficult.

‘Sad, but lovely’

After initially treating Minx with pain relief due to her otherwise good quality of life, Mrs Yhnell made the decision to euthanise her several weeks later after difficulty eating returned.

She said: “I put her to sleep myself. She was just wonderful right to the very end, just purred literally to the end.”

Mrs Yhnell said she felt like Minx “came back to me for a reason” and she was grateful the cat’s last days were spent with love, getting to meet and bond with her three children.

She added: “It was lovely. Sad, but lovely at the same time.”