SWINDON vets have reunited a cat with its owner after it went missing from their London address – more than six years ago.

Sourpuss was handed in to Thameswood Vets on Purton Road by a concerned local resident who had noticed him hanging around the area in recent weeks.

Staff made enquiries to find a local owner but nobody came forward to claim him.

When the vet discovered that Sourpuss had a chip fitted they were surprised to learn he was registered to an owner in London.

But their surprise was magnified further still when they contacted the owner and discovered he had gone missing more than six years ago.

Chris Stagg, Client Care Manager at Thameswood Vets, said: “Sourpuss was brought in to us late on Friday, May 27, as he had been hanging around a local residents house for the past few days.

“He was a lovely friendly boy and in good condition, he stole the hearts of our nursing team during his stay.

“We scanned him to try and locate an identchip and hopefully find his owner.

“Contacting the main data base we were surprised to find his chip was registered in London almost 100 miles away from the clinic.

“We contacted the owners straight away and after a couple of days we managed to speak to them. They were extremely surprised to receive our call.”

It was then that the staff in Swindon learned the story of how Sourpuss had first gone missing.

He had been living with his sister at an address in the capital when he suddenly disappeared, his owners printed flyers and posted them all around the local area but nobody came forward.

Sourpuss had vanished and after more than six years, his owners had all but given up hope of ever being reunited with him again.

Little did they know that the plucky little fella had managed to travel over 100 miles to end up in Swindon.

On Thursday, still reeling from the surprise call, his owner travelled down from London and they were finally reunited.

Sourpuss will never be able to explain where has been all these years, so for now that part of his story will remain a mystery.

The nursing staff that looked after him said the condition he was in suggested that he hadn’t been living outside – instead it appeared as if someone had been looking after him.

Recent legislation has made it mandatory for dogs to be chipped but there is no such legislation in place for cats.

However, Sourpuss’ case shows just what a vital clue the chip can be when a pet goes missing, even after so many years.

Chris from Thameswood added: “If his owners had not made the decision to identichip him nearly nine years ago, then Sourpuss would certainly not have made it home.”