An elderly cat which went missing for a month from his home in Crewe has been reunited with his owner, thanks to the RSPCA.

Leo, a 14-year-old ginger cat, was diagnosed with dementia two years ago, which meant he did not go outside very often.

The RSPCA rescued him from a street not far from his home a month after he went missing – but as he was not microchipped, he could not be reunited with his owner.

He was taken to the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange cattery, in Nantwich – and it was by chance that the daughter of a member of staff recognised Leo from a picture she had seen shared on Facebook about the missing cat.

Lee Stewart, manager of Stapeley Grange, said: “We are so pleased that we were able to reunite Leo with his owner Charlotte. On this occasion it was a lovely happy ending, but sadly sometimes cats which go missing aren’t always reunited with their owners. It just goes to show how important microchipping is.

“If you have a cat which is not microchipped, please speak to your local vets – it is a quick and painless procedure which could save a lot of heartache should your pet ever go missing in the future.”

As soon as owner Charlotte O’Dell realised he had gone missing from her home in Crewe, in April, she immediately turned to Facebook in the hope that someone would find him.

Charlotte said: “I was absolutely devastated when he went missing. For the last couple of years he has had dementia and I knew that if I didn’t find him quickly then I was probably never going to find him at all.”

As well as putting posts on Facebook, Charlotte put posters up around the local area in the hope that someone would get in touch with good news.

A month after Leo went missing, an elderly confused cat was picked up by an RSPCA inspector in Wheelman Road, Crewe – not far from where he went missing – and taken to Stapeley Grange.

“After a month of looking I decided to have one last chance of finding him and shared his missing poster again on Facebook,” said Charlotte. “And by some slim miracle, the daughter of one of the staff at the RSPCA’s Stapeley Grange cattery recognised his picture! I could not believe it. I left work in tears immediately, as there was no way I was going to be able to do any work that day without knowing if it was really him.”

Charlotte went straightaway to Stapeley Grange, in London Road, Nantwich, to see if the cat was Leo – and was overjoyed when she realised it was.

“I’m not sure there was a dry eye at the Grange when I realised it was him,” said Charlotte. “The staff there are absolutely brilliant, not only do they work tirelessly to reunite pets with their owners wherever possible, but the care they gave my little old man while he was with them was exceptional.

“Thankfully, before I took him home, the staff at Stapeley Grange microchipped him for me.”

The RSPCA is a charity and we rely on public donations to exist. To assist Stapeley Grange in carrying out its vital work please text RSPCA2 to 70007 to give £3. (Texts cost £3 + one standard network rate message.)