When she escaped through a bathroom window into a dark and foggy autumn night, her owners thought they would never see little Ringo the cat again.
But, after giving up all hope, the five-year-old cat is back at home in Norwich - after she was miraculously found following three years away, 12 miles away from home.
Leela Grieveson got the small and energetic cat in September 2012, when Ringo was a six-week-old kitten.
In her two years living in Waterloo Road, Norwich, she was described as 'young and quite crazy' but nervous of other people.
So when she went out of the house through a bathroom window at 3am on September 15 2014, Miss Grieveson feared the worst.
She spent a year searching for the multi-coloured calico cat, printing 4,000 flyers and reaching thousands more on Facebook in her desperate search.
There was some hope three weeks after Ringo went missing, when Miss Grieveson found the pet's distinctive collar with crystals which bore her name.
However after the search proved elusive, Miss Grieveson said: 'I know cats go away for a couple of months but after a year I gave up hope. I went out looking for her for months and months and months. She had just vanished from thin air.'
But earlier this week she got a call from the blue which almost knocked her off her feet, saying Ringo had been found.
'I nearly fell over,' the 40-year-old said. 'I had to sit down. I was shocked, but good shocked.
'I honestly never thought I'd ever see her again. I'm pleased to get her back and grateful for the people who found her.
'A lot of people have said I hope it doesn't take me that long for me to find my cat, but it does give people hope.'
Ringo is now adapting to life back at the house in Waterloo Road, with Miss Grieveson saying: 'She's very exhausted but she settling in really well and eating a lot.'
Ringo was found by a worker at Lustre Coatings LTD in Hethel, which alerted the RSPCA. The charity then set a trap to catch her.
Microchipping
Ringo was reunited with Miss Grieveson thanks to the fact Ringo had a microchip with up-to-date information.
'I'd advise anyone to get their pets microchipped because I have now got my cat back,' she said.
'If I hadn't I would never have seen her again.
'Having her chipped wasn't a lot of money but it was well worth having it.'
Chloe Martin, deputy animal welfare officer at the RSPCA's Norwich and Mid-Norfolk branch, said: 'This is a great example of how effective microchipping your pet is.
'It's also important to keep them up-to-date. We've had some microchips that has contact details but for an old mobile phone
'It's a lifeline and way of getting them returned to their owners. Unfortunately we do find many pets that aren't microchipped.'
'We urge people to get their pets microchipped, keep the details up to date and never give up hope.'
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