Whether you believe in fate or not, sometimes life has a funny way of bringing us hope and the belief that this was surely meant to be. This is the remarkable story of Charlotte, a very special cat.

Twenty years ago, in 2005, Viv decided to welcome a rescue cat into her heart and home through the Mayhew foster care programme.

Little did she know quite how significant her foster placement would be. Welcoming not one, but seven cats into her home – Viv provided shelter for Charlotte and her six kittens.

Charlotte had given birth outside in someone’s garden in East London. Having been a stray, Charlotte was very wary at first and didn’t like human contact. Although she was tolerant of her kittens being handled.

While Charlotte wasn’t very fond of humans, she did form a special bond with Viv’s resident cat, Dylan, who she quickly “fell in love with”.

Viv had already decided to adopt two of the kittens: a girl called Polly, and a boy called Harley. When the time came for Charlotte and the rest of her kittens to return to Mayhew to be rehomed, Charlotte had other ideas.

She refused to be picked up and sat herself firmly down next to Dylan as if to say ‘I’m not going anywhere’. And that was that – Charlotte had found her home alongside her new best friend, and two of her kittens.

Patiently, Viv tried to earn Charlotte’s trust. As a young cat herself, Charlotte had likely never had much human contact before, but slowly she started to show progress. One day, Charlotte snuggled up to Viv when she thought she was sleeping. Viv was thrilled but had to continue to pretend to be asleep!

Over the next five years, Charlotte happily lived with her new family, and all was well until one fateful day in September…

One morning, Charlotte went into the garden with the other cats as normal. When Viv called them back in a few hours later, Charlotte did not return.

Viv left a window open for her but was distraught when she realised that Charlotte was officially missing. Determined to get her back, Viv put up posters, shared leaflets and even knocked on people’s front doors.

The whole family was devastated to have lost her, including Charlotte’s daughter, Polly, who particularly felt her absence.

Over time, the years passed and while Viv didn’t want to give up hope, knowing that Charlotte would now be 20 years old, she knew she should accept that she would probably never see Charlotte again.

And then one day, on 9 October 2024, Viv received a phone call from an animal welfare organisation to say that Charlotte had been found in Waterloo, London.

Viv was informed that Charlotte had been living outside, and a member of the public had been feeding her but her health was declining.

After 14 years, Charlotte was able to be reunited with her family. Viv shared: “I always called her ‘Charleybars’ and when she heard that, she knew it was me.

Harley instantly knew it was his mum and Charlotte seemed to know that she was back home. I could hold and kiss her, and when she kissed me back, I really thought my heart would burst.”

Being an elderly cat, Viv knew that she wouldn’t have long with Charlotte but had really hoped to enjoy Christmas with her.

Sadly, Charotte passed away only 16 days after being reunited with her family. She was very poorly, and the kindest thing was to let her go. It was heartbreak for Viv and her family all over again.

“I had so many emotions. Gratitude that she did come home again, but pain as well as she was out there for so long and I didn’t know.

“I found an old diary from 2016, in which I wrote about Charlotte coming home. In my heart, I always knew she would. She was very, very special. I’m so grateful she died in my arms.

“I just want her story to inspire people to never give up hope when looking for their missing pet.”

While it wasn’t quite the ending to her story that Viv and her family would have hoped for, they did get to spend time together again in the end.

There are many things you can do to ensure the safety of your pet, including microchipping which is now a legal requirement which you can find out more about here: https://themayhew.org/how-we-help/our-vet-clinic/microchipping/.

We would like to thank Viv for sharing her story with us. Like every animal that comes into Mayhew, Charlotte was very special in her own way and always will be. She will be remembered in our hearts as a cat with a very special story.