‘TravelodgeTom’ back home – after 22 months!

A cat that had made his life in and around the Travelodge in Thame, has been reunited with his own after 22 months!

Fiddle the Travelodge cat is reunited with his owner, Sabrina Bonnell

Known as Fiddle to his owner and Bentley by the Chiltern Cats Protection given him for rehoming, he originally went missing in March, 2012, from Cromwell Avenue in Thame, when he was just over a year old. He had been gone for periods before but had usually come back. Everyone in Fiddle’s family was distraught when the last time he didn’t come back. At the beginning of December 2013, he was reported to Chiltern Cats Protection by a lady who had been staying at the Travelodge who was concerned about him.

Layla Jury, from Chiltern Cats Protection, takes up the story: “After several searches and phone calls we eventually caught up with him and checked him for a microchip but there wasn’t one. So he was put on Animal Search, Facebook and Twitter, and the details displayed at the vets, and a collar was put on him. The weather was getting worse and bad storms were forecast so we arranged for him to come in.

“To cut a long story short, this week we reposted him on Facebook for rehoming and by chance, his owner, Carmen Bonnell’s friend happened to see him and told her about a cat found in Thame. As he had been missing for nearly 22 months, Carmen could not believe that it was him. So after a couple of phone calls and swapping of pictures we decided that it was definitely Fiddle, so took him to her yesterday (Thursday) and the two were duly reunited.”

Carmen had acquired another cat since Fiddle had left and so he will have to get used to her, although Carmen has said that he was not bothered at all. “In fact, he settled down almost immediately and remembered his hidey hole in the kitchen”, she reported.

Layla concluded: “A wonderful happy ending that just shows how important it is to microchip your pets!”