A four-year-old indoor cat has been reunited with his owner after hitching a 15-mile ride underneath a neighbour’s car in Essex.
Olaf, described by his owner as “a scaredy-cat who can be afraid of his own shadow”, slipped out of his home in Braintree and was missing for four days. He had apparently climbed under the vehicle near his home and stayed there as driver Abigail Harrison travelled to her workplace in Galleywood.
Ms Harrison, deputy manager at the Cats Protection Essex Cat Centre, said Olaf was “understandably a bit skittish” when he fell from underneath her car, but she and colleagues safely got him into a carrier. A microchip revealed his owner to be 55-year-old Hazel Ohler, who lives near to Ms Harrison in Braintree.
Ms Ohler said she had lost hope after days of searching, but was overjoyed when Cats Protection called. “It’s incredible that he picked that particular car to take a nap in,” she said.
Ms Harrison said the story demonstrated the value of microchips and keeping contact details up to date, even for indoor cats. “If he hadn’t been chipped, it is doubtful that the family would have seen him again,” she added.
