They no longer believed it. Eight years after losing their cat, a family found it in a SPA shelter in Salon-de-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), explains the 30 million friends foundation on its website.
In 2016, Julie and her children lost Yoda, the family cat. Despite searches, the animal was nowhere to be found. “We looked for him everywhere. We moved heaven and earth. In vain. It lasted like a year before we mourned…” Julie tells 30 million friends.
Later the family left the department for the Côte d’Azur. “Everyone was very upset,” explains the teacher. Especially one of my daughters, for whom he was a real playmate,” continues Julie.
“It’s like he never left.”
But eight years later, Julie and her children returned to live in Salon-de-Provence. The mother is considering adopting a new cat. Looking at the website of the local SPA shelter, Julie sees “a cat that looks exactly like Yoda,” she recalls. “He had the same little spot on his mouth,” she adds.
She decides to go to a shelter with her daughters. And the good news comes quickly: It is actually Yoda who disappeared eight years earlier. The cat had been rescued by shelter volunteers a year earlier, in 2023, in an emaciated state. “He was eaten by people in a nursing home. After a while they were no longer there. Then he would have wasted away. When he was picked up, his teeth were damaged, his tail was broken… It was not fun for him at all. We didn’t believe it at all, says Julie.
After many years, Yoda, aged 17, returned to his family, which he apparently never forgot. “He immediately recognized the children,” says the mother, who continues: “It’s as if he had never left.”
A beautiful ending that reminds us of the importance – and obligation – of pet identification. “It is also very useful for lost or stray animals to find their homes,” recalls the 30 million friends Foundation.
