'Very lucky indeed': Missing cat reunited with family after five years

Purnim resident Mishay Chambers took the fluffy feline in as a stray after spotting it sitting on the roof of her neighbour's shed.

"We heard him meowing and saw how mangled he was," she said.

"He had surgery on his face and nose, his bottom jaw was shattered and full of flies. We fixed him up and named him Lucky."

She doted on him until he suddenly disappeared without a trace.

"One night he just never came back home," Ms Chambers said.

"He usually would come back about 5pm for his food.

"We spent two to three months looking for him, but he was totally missing. We put lots of posts up on Facebook but got no response, then we eventually thought he may have passed away.

"Then the ranger rang and told us they had Lucky - I thought 'That can't be right'. I was stunned and shocked, I told her he was deceased but they said they had him right there.

"He was in Winslow".

Moyne Shire local laws officer Jocelyn Williams said they couldn't believe the situation either.

"The first scan didn't pick up a microchip where it normally would be, so I did a second scan a bit lower than normal, and it showed up with all the details listed," she said.

"When Mishay said Lucky had been missing for five years, I think we were both a bit shocked and lost for words.

"He has obviously been well looked after somewhere, he was very friendly and relaxed when we picked him up."

Ms Williams said it was an important reminder about microchipping pets.

"It was great to be able to reunite them after so long and shows how important it is to have your pets microchipped and to keep the details up to date," she said.

"Even after five years we have been able to reunite Lucky and Mishay because the microchip details were correct."