WHEN Elvis left the building for his regular walk on Christmas Day, he soon had his family all shook up.
They were not to see their seven-month-old tabby for another five days.
Elvis was eventually reunited with his owners after a kind-hearted woman took him in and posted a message on the social media website Facebook to try to trace his real family.
And Elvis is now happily back with owners Mel Clarke and Rob Fulton in Woodstock Road, St John’s, Worcester.
They were unaware that on Boxing Day morning, he was taken in by Good Samaritan Lesley Key, who spotted him walking down Hylton Road.
Mrs Key, aged 61, who lives in the road, said: “It was a foggy morning, but out of the gloom I could see a man walking up the road with a beautiful little cat trotting behind him.
“I asked him if the cat was his and he told me it wasn’t, and that it would be best if I looked after it.
“I agreed as it was very foggy and it’s a very busy road. I was so worried it might get run over.
“I stooped down and called to the cat. It came over and allowed me pick it up. It was very friendly, purring away happily.
“I took into my house, much to the disgust of my own cat, who didn’t think much of it at all.
“It was obviously a well cared for pet and he was very friendly, so I wanted to get him back to his family.”
Although seven-month-old Elvis did have an identity capsule on him, part of it had become unscrewed so his address was not clearly displayed.
Mrs Key contacted her local vet’s in attempt to find the owners, but despite being micro-chipped the cat had not been registered.
She then uploaded his picture on Facebook, with details of her address.
Her appeal was eventually seen by someone who knew Elvis, and the cat was collected from Mrs Keys’ home on Sunday afternoon and returned to a grateful Mel and Rob.
“It restores your faith in humanity when you see people like Mrs Keys helping us out like she did,” Rob said.
“We were absolutely over the moon to get Elvis back.
"We owe her a massive thank you and bought her a bottle of wine to show our appreciation to her for looking after him.
"We were getting very worried about him.
“Elvis has done this before a few times. He’s very playful, because he’s so young, and so has a habit of following people down the road if they show him the slightest bit of affection.
“The problem is, he follows them too far and then can’t remember how to get back home again.
“He’s just a man of the people and is becoming a bit of celebrity round here.”
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