A CAT owner in Newport was left baffled but overjoyed when her pet was found in Bristol  - having gone missing two months ago.

Four-year-old Nala had vanished after owner Julie Jones and her young family moved house to Hoskins Street in Shaftesbury.

But, two months later, Nala turned up in a completely different country, when she was found in Bristol Docks. She was brought to a vet, who checked to see if she was micropchipped. And thankfully Ms Jones, 36, had got the cat microchipped not long before she had disappeared.

“I have literally no idea how she got there, not a clue,” said Ms Jones.

“I don’t know whether or not she got on a van, or if she jumped on a boat because we live right by the river.

“I’m just so glad she’s home.

“I was so over the Moon when I got that phone call, I rang my mum crying and she was like ‘oh no, what’s happened?’  and I was just like ‘no these are happy tears!’

“I just can’t believe what has happened.”

  • Everyone loves their furry (and sometimes not so furry) friends – and we want to meet yours. Whether you’ve got dogs, cats, rodents, birds, lizards or something even more exotic, tell us – and our readers – all about your faithful friends. Click here to submit information and pictures.

When Nala vanished Ms Jones feared the worst, believing she may have got trapped in a shed during the heatwave.

She was putting food out at night and had enlisted the help of the neighbourhood and her family to keep an eye out for her wandering pet.

Meanwhile, Nala had become a feature of an office in Bristol, Balfour Beatty HPC Marine Works, and was surviving on chicken from the canteen.

She was taken to the vets because she was deemed to be too friendly to be a stray.

At first Nala was understandably a little nervous when she came home and hissed at Ms Jones’ other cats or anybody that came near her food.

Now she is fully settled and is happy to be back home with her family.

Read more:

Ms Jones believes that the decision to get Nala microchipped was vital in getting her home after being missing for so long.

“I only had Nala microchipped a couple of months before I moved house,” said Ms Jones.

“During lockdown she had got pregnant twice, but obviously the vets weren't open.

“As soon as they opened I was like ‘right get her in, get her neutered and get her microchipped’ – if I hadn’t got that done then I wouldn’t have that cat back today.

“It gives hope to some people because you know I see posts on Facebook pages and stuff and you see people looking for ages for their cats and I was seeing some people say that cats can come back after a year.

“I thought at the time ‘no way, that isn’t going to happen’, but it turns out it did!

“I want to give people a bit of hope, because it can happen – Nala is the proof!”