Sutterton pet owners, who waited six months for missing cat, Ozzy, say the reunion was ‘incredible’

The owners of a cat who went missing for six months, say the reunion was incredible.

Louis Patak and wife Carole, of Sutterton, were left feeling devastated after their 15 year old furry friend, Ozzy, went missing on December 11, 2023.

The black and white cat, who regularly went outdoors, would often go on adventures throughout the night and later return home in the morning looking for something to eat.

However, when Ozzy didn’t come back home, the couple became concerned.

Louis said: “We were always out looking for him, we never gave up. Throughout the months he was gone I would go around searching the fields, round the back of the houses or down by the dykes.

“It was horrible because we felt like we’d done something wrong.”

Two months prior to finding Ozzy, Louis and Carole had their hopes raised, after believing they had found him. But sadly it turned out to be a similar looking missing cat.

After six long months of waiting, the couple coincidentally clicked on a Facebook group whilst visiting family, and discovered a missing cat post of Ozzy was on the page.

The furry family member was finally found in Wyberton - which is six and a half miles away from his home.

Louis added: “I said to my wife – ‘that’s Ozzy’ and she replied, ‘don’t get my hopes up again’. We then looked a bit closer and it was him.

“According to the young lady who found him, she said that he had been around the neighbourhood for a while and they were all giving him food.

“We knew it was him because he has some distinctive markings and is chipped as well. As soon as we saw him, he came trotting over – it was unbelievable and there were lots of tears, we were so pleased.

“We had received some bad luck recently, so it was nice for something to go right for a change after we found him. He’s not just a cat, he’s part of the family.”

Ozzy was checked over at the vets and was fine apart from being slightly underweight. The couple suspected he had jumped into a delivery van and got out on the next stop.

Louis and Carole’s Labrador, Reggie, was also quite upset after his disappearance. Louis added: “Before Ozzy went away, they were always sleeping together in the same bed or would often sleep by the fire together.

“We are keeping them apart at the moment whilst Ozzy gets adjusted again, but they did see each other the other day through the door, and both looked quite surprised.

“I’d like to say thank you to any of the people living around the Wyberton and Low Road area, who fed him and made sure he was alright.”

Under new legislation, cats must be microchipped and registered on a database by the time they are 20 weeks-old.