Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/moms-missing-cat-found/

Like any good son, Keith Bigland was devastated when his mother, Shirley, passed away.

But the Englishman’s grief was only compounded when his late mother’s cat, Biscuit, slipped through a tiny hole in his fence and disappeared. “I had hope at first, for months afterwards I was calling his name around every corner,” the March, Cambridgeshire, man told the BBC. “Biscuit is the last link I have left to my mother.”

But as the days turned into weeks, months, and then years, Keith and his wife, Su, came to the realization that Biscuit — aka Bikkit, as his family had called him — had probably died. But then one day 3 years after the cat’s disappearance, Keith got a very surprising phone call.

“I still can’t quite believe it, I had totally given up hope, we never thought the call would come,” said Keith, recalling the shock of hearing from a local vet who said Biscuit had been found, ironically, just a mile from their house.

“When he arrived at our house my wife threw her arms around the vet in relief,” the stunned man recalled. “What makes it even more special is that Biscuit was handed in just a few days after the third anniversary of my mother’s death, which makes you wonder if she’s watching over us.”

Unfortunately, Biscuit wasn’t in great shape after 3 years on his own, during which time the 14-year-old cat developed heart and breathing issues. This led Keith to create a GoFundMe page to pay for Biscuit’s heart surgery and other veterinary bills.

But even despite his long time away, Biscuit instantly recognized his long-lost family members — and he hasn’t stopped telling Keith how happy he is to be home. “Although he looks and acts differently to before, I recognized him straight away,” Keith said, “and he recognized me and hasn’t stopped purring since.”

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog