“Tattooing your animals seems so important to me“. Anaïs would never have thought she could say it so well, because it was this act that allowed her this Friday, July 19, to find her cat Victor 9 years later. The cat had been reported missing in 2015 near her home in Mouriès But it was more than 32 kilometers from his home that he was found in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts.He had an abscess on his back, which is why he could be identified when he was taken to the vet.“, says Anaïs, relieved to finally know her cat’s journey since that summer of 2015. The one she had called Victor, she had only known him for a year.”My father decided to adopt a young cat a few months old from an association in Martigues when I was still a student in Paris. I was alone and in a rather complicated period of my life. He was my cure, my lucky star, my savior.“The young girl, 18 years old at the time, accustoms her pet to Parisian life, between the metro and the TGV to visit her parents every weekend in Mouriès.
“We had given up the idea that he could return”
But it was during the summer of 2015 that his traveling companion disappeared. “That summer I came home to my parents for a summer job. I left Victor to play as usual in the garden of their house, but he never came back. We put up posters on notices, searched garbage cans and ditches, posted ads on the Internet in the hope of finding him.“After two months, the family decided to give up the search.”The worst part was not knowing if he was alive or dead. Every day I told myself that maybe he would come home. I kept hoping to see him again. But we ended up abandoning this idea.“In memory of her cat Victor, Anaïs decides to tattoo the silhouette of her first pet.”so he is always there“She.
“It’s a very rare story”
But a message left on the answering machine of Anaïs’ father, Thierry, on Friday 19 July sheds light on the family’s nine-year absence. “When he disappeared, I looked on the Internet where people said they had found their pet 10 years later. But I never thought it could happen to me. At first we thought it was a hoax. It seems unlikely 9 years later. It is a very rare story.“
The cat, renamed Minou, was taken in shortly after its disappearance by a lady who lives in Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts. “All these years he was nurtured by this lady until she died a few months ago.“His family didn’t want to take him back, so he found refuge with his neighbors, a young couple with a small child. So infected in the back, Victor was identified during his visit to the vet.”In the file, it was mentioned that Victor had disappeared in 2015. With the tattoo, the vet realized that the real owners lived in Mouriès.“
While Victor, now Minou, has been warmly welcomed by his new family for several months now, Anaïs wanted to permanently entrust her animal to this new home. “They seem to love him very much, since we found him they have sent me lots of pictures of him so he seems very happy.“This Sunday she goes to Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts for a moving reunion with her cat, who is now 10 years old.”It was important to see him again, at least once. I saw on the internet that cats have good memories, so maybe he will recognize me. I just want to see it. I will be happy to know he is okay and in a good home with good people.“, Anaïs concludes philosophically.
