Family reunited with long-haul cat

RSPCA

LONG WAY FROM HOME: Timothy the cat.

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A friendly tom cat named Timothy has stunned his Brisbane family by turning up more than 1300 kilometres from home, a year after going missing.

The black and white cat was handed in to Townsville's RSPCA shelter this week by a local resident who found him living with two other cats in the house she had just moved into.

A routine check for a microchip revealed he belonged to a family from the Brisbane suburb of Bald Hills and had been missing since August last year.

Owner Camilla Brooks was relieved to learn the family's beloved pet was still alive.

"It's just amazing, I'm so excited to have him back," she said.

"When he went missing, we did letter drops and all those sorts of things around the area but we heard nothing. We had to assume the worst."

How Timothy achieved his epic journey to Townsville, however, has her stumped.

"It's a bit odd, we don't know how he got there," Ms Brooks said.

RSPCA Townsville shelter manager Caroline Shemwell said Timothy may have been taken in by a Brisbane family who then moved to Townsville or he may have hitched a ride on a removalist truck.

But, given his condition when he arrived at the shelter, she believes someone must have been caring for Timothy for the past 12 months.

"I'd say he's been living at somebody's house for quite a while," she said.

Timothy will be flown down to his family this weekend.

They are excited about the reunion but say it will be a bit strange to see him now.

"He was six months old when I last saw him, so he's an adult cat now," Ms Brooks said.

- AAP