BBC Naidheachdan
BBCAn island couple have been reunited with their cat after it went missing for five years.
Kathleen and Asa Harrison adopted Flora, the offspring of a feral cat, when she was a kitten.
She quickly settled into life in Strond, Harris, with the Harrisons’ dogs Cooper and Mist.
Flora vanished in March 2020 and Kathleen feared she was gone for good until she turned up last month – 11 miles away in Miabhag nam Bàgh.
After her travels, the wandering moggy now has the nicknam Flora the Explorer, which plays on the name of children’s TV cartoon character Dora the Explorer.
When she disappeared, the Harrisons initially thought she had jumped into the van of contractors who had been working on their house at the time.
But checks of the vehicle and Scaladale, north Harris, where the workers made a stop before returning to Stornoway in Lewis found no sign of her.
The couple spent days searching their local area and, over the years, Kathleen has received multiple messages about possible sightings but none turned out to be Flora.
On 13 January she was contacted by a cousin about a social media post with an image attached of a cat found in Miabhag nam Bàgh.
Kathleen said: “I looked at the post and it was the first time in all those years that I thought it could be Flora.”
Arriving at the house of the person who found the cat, Kathleen called out Flora’s name and the cat ran up to her.
A scan of the cat’s microchip confirmed it was her.
Kathleen said: “We just couldn’t believe it was her. It took a while to sink in.
“She was well looked after by the family that found her.”
Kathleen added: “The dogs went crazy, in a positive way.
“Mist almost climbed into the cat carrier with her. We think they absolutely recognised her straight away.
“From that moment, it was obvious to us that she’s just so happy to be home.
“She’s made it.”
Flora has had to adjust to two cats the Harrisons got during her time away.
Kathleen said: “She’s very much the cat that left but just a bit more feisty but as the days go on that feisty-ness is reducing.”
She added: “If anybody has seen Flora over the years, we’d love to hear from you to try and piece together the journey that she’s possibly been on.”
