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After 10 years, Peanut the cat finally goes home
Holly Walker (left) was just seven years old when her beloved cat 'Peanut' disappeared. She and mother Julie Terry were delighted to be reunited with him, a decade after he disappeared. Picture: Neil Didsbury - Credit: Archant
Peanut the cat is meowing with joy upon being reunited with his family, after he went missing 10 years ago.
It was an emotional reunion for Julie Terry and her 20-year-old daughter, Holly Walker, after the moggy went missing from their Watton home in 2009.
Having given up hope of ever seeing the pet again, on Friday they travelled to Cats Protection in Longham, near Dereham, to take him home to Ely, where they now live.
Miss Terry said she was overjoyed to have Peanut back.
She said: 'It was fantastic. At first I didn't know if he did recognise because he kept hiding. Then we managed to pick him up and he would finally let us handle him and cuddle him, and it was all good.'
Back in the arms of Mum. Julie Terry was reunited with her beloved cat 'Peanut' at the Dereham-based Cat's Protection, a decade after he went missing from her old home in Watton. Picture: Neil Didsbury - Credit: Archant
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The family had just moved to Watton and were keeping Peanut inside to get him use to his new surroundings when he broke through a cat flap and ran away.
They failed to find the cat, who is now about 14, and he has been living almost as a stray these many years.
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Miss Terry said they never forgot about him, and kept a picture of Peanut in their sitting room.
It turned out Peanut was being fed by an elderly man who lived nearby. His daughter brought the feline into Cats Protection when he found himself no longer able to feed the cat.
Julie Terry and daughter Holly Walker completing paperwork so that Peanut could return home. Picture: Neil Didsbury - Credit: Archant
Miss Terry said the animal welfare charity's staff spoke highly of the moggy. She said: 'They said he was the perfect gentleman. Same old Peanut.'
She said Peanut had always been an affectionate, if not particularly spirited, pet, in contrast to Pepsi, the five-year-old black-and-white female puss he will now be sharing a home with.
Miss Terry said: 'When Peanut was younger he didn't play much, he just liked to be lazy. But she's quite feisty. We hope they'll get used to each other's mischievous ways.
'He'll probably calm her down a bit.'
'Peanut' disappeared from his home in Watton ten years ago, now he has been reunited with his owners. Picture: Neil Didsbury - Credit: Archant
Yvonne Durant, Cats Protection receptionist, said they were only able to find Peanut's owners because he had been microchipped, and she said the situation showed how important that was.
-Do you have a heartwarming pet story you would like to share? Email stuart.anderson@archant.co.uk
'Peanut' the cat was reunited with his original owners, ten years after going missing. Picture: Neil Didsbury - Credit: Archant
