‘Miracle’ as lost cat returned home after five years

‘Miracle’ as lost cat returned home after five years

A Derbyshire woman was reunited with her missing cat after nearly five years, an event she called a “miracle.” The cat, named Bodhi, vanished in July 2021 from Chellaston, where Danielle Arme had been living. For over a year, she had posted flyers and distributed leaflets in hopes of finding him, but hope began to fade.

“After that year, I just lost all hope. I thought ‘I’m never going to get him back’,” said Arme, who is 37.

Viccie Mahon, a 59-year-old resident of Sudbury, Derbyshire, discovered Bodhi shortly after Christmas. She noticed the cat resting in her carport and had a builder nearby feeding him small portions. Mahon and her family mistakenly believed the feline was female and named him Martha.

“I remembered thinking, ‘what if’ he had gotten into a van and traveled to Sudbury,” Mahon explained. “So I got him scanned to check for a chip.”

The scan revealed a code, which was sent to a pet tracking service. The company traced the cat to Derbyshire, confirming he was a male named Bodhi who had gone missing in 2021. When they couldn’t reach Arme directly, Mahon searched online for “missing cat Bodhi December 2021” and found her Facebook post.

She contacted Arme, now based in Shelton Lock, and shared the news. The reunion was emotional for both. “She couldn’t believe it, she was so happy to have him back,” Mahon said. Arme expressed her joy upon reclaiming Bodhi, who had been sitting in a builder’s van, forming a bond with the worker.

“I just shed tears. I thought, ‘where have you been all this time?'” Arme said. “I just wish he could talk, you know, he could tell me about all his adventures.”

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