How did this missing Fife cat turn up in Aberdeenshire?

Joanne Day (38) feared the worst for her five-year-old Bertie after he vanished from their home three months ago.

But the wayward moggy, from St Andrews, recently befriended a cat-loving couple in Aberdeenshire and he was finally reunited with his hugely-relieved owners this week.

Joanne, who says Bertie has never wandered off before, feared he might have been hit by a car.

The hairdresser thinks Bertie might have jumped in the back of a delivery lorry before being driven 65 miles to Stonehaven.

She said: “I think he might have stupidly gone into the back of a delivery lorry or something because the house where he was found is next to an industrial estate.”

“It’s not like him to wander off, so when he wasn’t coming back I started to get worried.

“He is not the type of cat to go into other people’s houses.

“He’s soft as putty, so laid back he’s almost horizontal, and he is a creature of habit.

“After about a week we started handing out leaflets to neighbours, but we thought he must have been hit by a car.

“We still kept looking, when we were out, you still always think is there a chance he could come back.”

And to Joanne’s disbelief, Bertie did come back, after the man he set up home with called his local Cats Protection group.

She added: “We are ecstatic he is home – and so is he – because we never thought we would see him again.

“Our dog Toffee and Bertie’s sister Pip are glad he is home too.”

Stonehaven Cats Protection’s lost and found officer Liz Sangster said Bertie’s microchip was vital in returning him home.

She added: “We would encourage people to have their cats microchipped – it can make all the difference when they go missing.

“Even if a cat has not survived, we can trace the owners and give them some form of closure.

“He [Bertie] may have got inside a delivery van – but we’ll never know.

“Thankfully, it was a happy outcome.”

Bertie is settling back into family life well and Joanne is determined he won’t be wandering off again.