Sudbury cat missing for five years turns up two miles away

Fred the cat disappeared from his home in Clermont Avenue, Sudbury, in January 2019 – leaving his owners Kat and Chris Owen, who had only recently moved to the area, devastated. 

The pair put fliers and posters out around the town and searched the area for Fred, but were never able to find him. 

Fred the cat before he went missing (Image: Kat Owen)

"I was inconsolable for months and I walked the streets looking for him," said Mrs Owen. 

"He wasn't just a cat that would come and eat his food and go, he would follow you around the house and he would want to be picked up.

"He was best friends with our dog and we had his brother George too, they were partners in crime."

Fred, pictured as a kitten with owners Kat and Chris, went missing from Clermont Avenue in Sudbury (Image: Kat Owen)

While holidaying in Kenya, Mrs Owen received a call from Ardmore Vets in Sudbury who said Fred had been brought in by an elderly man who had been feeding him in his home, which was around two miles away from the family home, for the last six months.

Mrs Owen said that after a reunion at the vets, which was full of "ugly crying", they made the difficult decision to allow the man to keep Fred.

Kat reunited with Fred (Image: Kat Owen)

"As soon as we saw Fred he came straight over to us without a second thought," she said.

"My husband really wanted him to come home but I was concerned he would not see this as his home anymore and he might go missing again.

"We were also aware that the man was on his own with no kids and no wife and he was saying he would really like to keep the cat. 

"It would only be for selfish reasons that we would keep him here. We have visiting rights and we are going round at the weekend to see them both. 

"I think he is going to become a bit of a friend to us," she added.