Essex mum reunited with missing cat after recognising meow on a phone call
She heard Barnaby's meow in the background on a phone call with the vet
Last updated 18th Jan 2022
A mother-of-three from Essex has found her lost cat Barnaby, who had been missing for 8 months, after recognising his meow over the phone.
Rachael Lawrence, from Braintree, "recognised" the meow in the background of a phone call she made to the vet to check up on her other cat Torvi, who was in for a procedure.
The 40-year-old asked the vet if it was Torvi that was meowing, but she was told "no, that’s just a stray we had brought in a week ago”.
With a growing suspicion that the mystery meow could belong to Ms Lawrence's missing cat Barnaby, she rang the vet back "a couple of hours" later to identify the stray.
Ms Lawrence was told that the cat was black with a white patch on one of his back feet and, after confirming that it really was Barnaby when she arrived to collect Torvi, she was finally reunited with her long-lost pet.
She "knew it was him" as soon as they brought him into the room, Ms Lawrence said.
"I cried... I'm talking snot-bubble cries. I was howling", she added.
"We hadn't seen him for eight months".
Barnaby, also known as 'fatman' to the family, was instantly recognised by Ms Lawrence's three children when she video-called them alongside the formerly lost cat.
"He's back home where he should be", she said.
He has "loads of scabs and he's all skinny and missing fur", but is "more than happy to be picked up and cuddled".
Ms Lawrence added that she'd paid to have Barnaby chipped before he disappeared, but "it clearly wasn't done properly".