LANCASTER, Pa. -- A Lancaster County woman and her cat are reunited after he escaped eight years ago. Someone recently found Anna Miller's cat roaming the streets of Lancaster and turned him into the Lancaster County SPCA.
SPCA officials scanned the microchip of a 10-year-old cat found on West Vine Street in Lancaster and were shocked by what they found. They discovered he was owned by Miller and had been missing for eight years. Miller adopted Stewart when he about a year old from a shelter in Lancaster.
"What really attracted me was his one green and one blue eye," Miller said.
She had Stewart for about a year, until one day when he disappeared.
"He was pretty much an escape artist. So I think one day he just got out the open door," she said.
She searched for Stewart but he never showed up.
"Eventually I kind of gave up and lost hope," Miller said.
She said she never stopped thinking about him - for eight years. Then she got a phone call from the SPCA a day after her 31st birthday.
Miller said, "I heard white cat and one green and one blue eye. I was like wait a minute that's Stewie!"
She said it was a great birthday present.
"I was blown away. Completely blown away."
Stewart was found in rough condition, but vets said he is expected to make a full recovery. Thanks to a microchip in Stewart's ear, cat and owner were able to reunite.
"I just think that people need to know how important it is to microchip your pets because like now he's been gone for so long and they were able to return him," she said.
And Stewart is one lucky cat because according to the ASPCA, only five percent of stray cats put in shelters are reunited with their owners.