Family reunited with cat 8 years later

HOUSTON – A Spring, Texas, pet owner has been reunited with her beloved cat after the feline disappeared eight years ago.

M'Lee Brooks never thought she would see her cat, Gray Kitty, ever again. He ran away from home and got lost in 2004.

Someone else found Gray Kitty and adopted him until a few weeks ago when that owner passed away.

The cat was then taken to BARC, where employees noticed he was microchipped. The microchip helped BARC reunite Gray Kitty with his parents.

"He was just a kitten when he wandered up to our house in College Station as a stray almost nine years ago. We called him Gray Kitty," said Brooks. "He loved to explore the outdoors, but was kept inside most of the time. About 4 months after we moved to the Houston area, he went outside with his cat friend, Little Kitty, and he disappeared. We posted lost signs and did everything we could to find him. After a lengthy search, our only hope was that he had found a good home with a new family because he was such a friendly cat."

Brooks couldn't be happier.

"I look at him and say, 'Where have you been for the last eight years?' It's nice to know he was OK and is OK," she said. "We're so glad to have him home. And we aren't the only ones. Gray Kitty has also been reunited with his best friend, Little Kitty, who has lived with us since before Gray Kitty left. They have started bonding again and will hopefully once again become inseparable."

"This just goes to show how incredibly important microchipping a pet can be for a family," said Alfred Moran, Director of the City of Houston Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department which oversees BARC. "We are thrilled that we had the opportunity to re-unite a pet with his family after so many years apart. This is a perfect example of why we take so much pride in what we do at BARC Animal Shelter and Adoptions every single day."