As someone who has previously owned cats, I know exactly the influence and importance they have in the family. While dogs are commonly regarded as 'man's best friend', the love of a cat is just as rewarding. In light of this, I can imagine that when your cat goes missing, it's a pretty horrific experience to endure.
One woman who went through this exact experience is Twitter user Nguhi. After losing her cat, Panther, five years ago, Nguhi assumed that he had passed away and was left feeling bereft.
However, it turns out that he was living next door to her. Check out the story below and be prepared to cry.
Taking to her Twitter account, Nguhi revealed the incredible news and then went into the story.
"hi I can’t believe this is real because I am still in shock but my first pet ever my cat panther just came home today after going missing FIVE YEARS AGO. FIVE. YEARS. AGO," she said.
She pieced together Panther's last five years, revealing that he turned up at a shelter and was in danger of being put down.
"Alright saddle in bc this is a JOURNEY. sometime after panther went missing he apparently turned up in a shelter in the next city 15 mi away. days before he was going to be euthanized he was adopted ! and lived with a woman for a little while in yet another city."
Luckily, a woman adopted him and named him Charlie.
"She saved his life and named him Charlie! She had him for a little while and when she couldn’t look after him anymore she gave him to her parents. this woman’s parents happen to be.....my next door neighbors. They have been living with “”Charlie”” for a little over a year."
He was then given to her parents - who are Nguhi's neighbours - and they had a husky that they could no longer take care of.
"He was an indoor cat we hardly saw and at this point we’d presumed panther lost or dead. These happen to be the neighbors that bought a siberian husky that quickly turned out to be too much to handle. i started taking care of him until they asked if I wanted to fully adopt him"
Still unaware that her cat was next door to her, Nguhi adopted the dog, who she now adores.
"Of course I said yes which is why last year I adopted my beautiful baby boy trotsky. ALL WHILE UNBEKNOWNST TO ME MY LONG LOST CAT PANTHER WAS LIVING INDOORS. I took their dog and they took my cat."
Charlie - or Panther - then went missing again, prompting the neighbours to seek help from Nguhi.
"THIS IS WHY when trotsky saw panther at our house today he didn’t go crazy or bark. HE ALREADY KNEW HIM. THEY’D LIVED TOGETHER BEFORE. we discovered this after our neighbor called and asked if we’d seen Charlie who’d been missing all day"
And then, that's when they realised who Charlie actually was.
"Our neighbors were as flabbergasted as us and insisted we keep him because he really was ours. we (I was overruled) decided to give him back since he was comfortable there and we already have a dog and cat. It was heartbreaking but I can’t even be sad bc today was truly surreal"
Nguhi and her neighbors have reached an agreement over Panther (or Charlie), and she is now able to visit him as and when she pleases.
"They’ve given me permission to visit my beautiful boy whenever I’d like. How is it possible that they gave me this dog I adore and have fostered my first best friend."
It's an incredible story and one that belongs in a Disney movie rather than on Twitter. Good luck to Panther and Nguhi with their rekindled relationship.
