WHEN eight-year-old Tatty went missing from her house in Salisbury a fortnight ago, owner Ann Townsend thought she’d never see her again.

The black and white moggy, left with just one eye after suffering from cancer, was well-known to neighbours in Bemerton Heath. But after she disappeared on Thursday, June 25, no-one seemed to know where she might be.

“I thought 24 hours is not a big deal but then come Saturday morning I knew something wasn’t right,” said Ann, 60. “I put posters up, we were searching hedges, it was frantic. I couldn’t eat for a couple of days.”

As all searches proved fruitless, Ann’s daughter Carly Rideout, a vet nurse at Jaffa, posted an appeal on Facebook, which was shared far and wide thanks to Cat Watch Wilts & Hants. A week later, the turning point came.

Ann explained: “Somebody replied to our appeal saying ‘I think I found your cat’. I was like ‘great where is she?’

“A lady in Trowbridge noticed this cat hanging around her garden and she gave her food and put her on her Facebook. Someone said ‘that looks like the cat from Salisbury’ so she took her to the vet and got her microchip scanned.

“I got a call and here she is. I couldn’t believe it.”

Although she’s still a little bit stressed, Tatty is in good shape and since coming home at the end of last week, she’s been mostly staying in. Her family reckon she might have climbed into a vehicle as “it’s the only explanation”.

“You just think the worst, I thought did someone take her in thinking she was a stray, I wondered if she had been run over. I didn’t think I would find her alive,” added Ann, who says she is very grateful to Sophie Ania Clift, for taking “amazing care” of Tatty.

“I have read about these things happening but I never thought I would experience it. I have never been a fan of Facebook being 60-years-old, but now, it is the best thing ever.”