When the Grover family from Clapham first noticed that their beautiful Burmilla cat Troy was missing just before the May bank holiday, initially they weren’t too worried. He often liked to explore outside so they assumed he would turn up once he got hungry. But by the evening time they were getting worried so they went out looking for him, using the tracker fitted to his collar.

But after hours of searching and asking neighbours, Troy was nowhere to be found and the tracker wasn’t picking up his signal, which meant he had gone out of range. After a very long and fretful bank holiday weekend of searching, you can imagine the Grovers’ delight when our Animal Welfare Officer Tania called to tell them we had Troy!

Troy had somehow ended up in Willesden Junction – how he came to be there only Troy will ever know – and luckily a local resident spotted him. Being quite a distinctive looking cat she didn’t recognise him as belonging to the neighbourhood. A cat-owner herself, she was worried about him so decided to look after him until she was able to bring him to her local animal shelter, The Mayhew, following the bank holiday. She asked a friend to look after her own cats so Troy wouldn’t feel threatened in her house. Over the next 3 days he became quite a celebrity on the street in Willesden and the local children pitched in to lend a hand taking care of him – they even built him his own makeshift shelter to sit in!

Following the bank holiday the kind lady from Willesden brought Troy to The Mayhew and our Animal Welfare Officers were very relieved to find that he was microchipped. Tania called the Grover family at once and they were delighted to be reunited with their beautiful Troy, as was his brother Abed who had been missing his partner in crime intensely.

“You don’t realise how much you’ll miss them until they get lost,” said Mrs Grover, hugging Troy tightly when she came to collect him. “I’m telling everyone I know about what happened and putting up posters around the neighbourhood urging pet owners to get their pet microchipped. If we hadn’t chipped Troy, I hate to think what would have happened to him.”

Tania, Animal Welfare Officer at The Mayhew said, “The Grovers are absolutely lovely people and I was so pleased to able to reunite them with Troy. We see so many cats and dogs arriving at The Mayhew who aren’t chipped and all we can do is find them a new home,” she explains. “We know the animal will adjust and be happy in their new home eventually, but there is so much heartache for the real owner who has no idea what happened to their pet.”

April is Microchipping Month and here at The Mayhew we strongly advise all pet owners to have their animal microchipped to significantly increase your chances of being reunited should the unthinkable happen and your pet becomes lost or is stolen. If Troy hadn’t been chipped we wouldn’t have been able to trace him back to his family, where he belongs. 

Microchipping is cheap, harmless and takes seconds. To find out more and to book an appointment at our clinic, click here or call 020 8962 8017.