A calico cat named Willow that disappeared five years ago has been found nearly 3,000km away from its home.
Willow was found on a Manhattan street on Wednesday and was sent to the Animal Care & Control (ACC) – an animal rescue and shelter in New York City.
Willow was found on a Manhattan street on Wednesday and was sent to the Animal Care & Control (ACC) – an animal rescue and shelter in New York City.
The centre contacted Willow's owner based on information on the microchip implanted in it.
"To be honest, there are tons of coyotes around here and owls.
"She was just a little thing. We put out the 'Lost Cat' posters... we actually thought she'd been eaten by coyotes," said her owner Jamie Squires of Colorado.
Squires and her husband, Chris, have three children – aged three, 10 and 17 - and the two older ones remember Willow.
The family also have a yellow Labrador named Roscoe, who knew Willow, and an English mastiff named Zoe.
"We had another dog back then, too, and I remember that Willow would lie with them as they all waited to be fed," Squires said.
"She thought she was a dog."
Willow peeping curiously out of her temporally home at ACC
Squires said Willow - still a kitten then - escaped when contractors left a door open during a home renovation.
ACC executive director Julie Bank said Willow is healthy and well-mannered, and probably has not spent her life on the mean streets of Manhattan.
But there were no clues about her trip east or anything else over the past five years.
But there were no clues about her trip east or anything else over the past five years.
The ACC and the Squireses were trying to arrange for health certificates and transportation for Willow to return to Colorado.
