Family lost their cat in 2019 and gave up hope. Six years later, a shelter’s phone call delivered a 'Christmas miracle'
A family from the United Kingdom witnessed a moment they never believed would happen again. A routine microchip check at an animal shelter turned into an emotional reunion with their cat, Felix, who disappeared almost six years ago. The heartwarming moment, shared on TikTok by RSPCA Milton Keynes and North Bucks (@rspca_miltonkeynes) on December 14, 2025, received over 26,800 views and nearly 2,000 likes.
On October 7, 2019, Felix went missing without a trace. Despite being microchipped, they received no alerts, and eventually, his family assumed that he had passed away. However, unexpectedly, the cat was spotted in a nearby yard after six years and was brought in as a stray. During a routine scan, the shelter staff found the microchip and discovered that the cat was still marked as missing. The microchip was linked to the family's contact details. The shelter reached out to Felix's family, giving them probably the best news. When the family received the call from the shelter, they rushed to the spot, hardly believing what they heard. The shelter's social media manager, Emily Lewry-Dawson, shared that Felix was surprisingly found very close to home.
"The cat was found rather close to where they live, perhaps around a five- ten-minute drive away," Lewry-Dawson told Newsweek. She added, "They spent hours looking in the area when he first went missing." Over the years, the family assumed that Felix was gone forever, making the reunion even more emotional and filled with tears. Felix, who is now safely at home, is adjusting to some major lifestyle change, which includes "strict house arrest" as he has spent a long time outside. He was also carefully introduced to the other pets, whom the family welcomed during his absence. The reunion was nothing short of a Christmas miracle, according to the shelter staff.
Soon after the video went viral on TikTok, the comment section echoed the similar emotions of the family. Several people shared their own experiences with the microchip and how it helped them, too, in finding their cats. Commenting on the post, @neo wrote, "I'm crying. Imagine believing they'd gone forever." @AnnieJean said, "Not him being a little extra grey now too." @itsterrancee also commented, saying, "That's wonderful. I found mine after a year because of a microchip in a town 30/40 miles away."
The RSPCA shelter team thanked all the supporters for the donations in the comment section of the post, "And thank you to all our supporters who share and donate. Without those donations, we wouldn't be able to get scanning equipment. None of this is possible without the public's generosity." Nearly one in three animals will go missing, as per the statistics. The chances of their reunion with the owners are mostly low, but with a microchip, the picture becomes better, dramatically improving the odds. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), only about one in 50 cats is returned to their owners from the animal shelter, but when they are microchipped, nearly two in five are reunited with their families.
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