Lulu the cat returns home

Lulu was last seen in a neighbour's garage early morning on Wednesday June 2, then it seemed she hitched a ride in the car and hopped out again in Bexhill town centre.

Her owner Karen Connolly, of Saltdean Close, contacted the Observer to appeal for any news or sightings of the 14-month-old cat thought to be in the Cooden Drive and Terminus Road area.

Karen had a "good response" to the article, and the posters she put up round town, and was encouraged by phone calls from residents who said they had seen Lulu.

She said: "We received several phone calls and many of them were very positive that the cat they had seen was Lulu.

"However, despite trawling the area early morning and evening we never saw her.

"Neighbours and friends were all out looking for her and wishing her home as they miss watching her antics. Things had been pretty awful lately as our older cat sadly had to be put down last week as he was so ill. There is now a big hole in our lives with both of them gone."

However at the end of last week the pet was found safe and sound.

Karen said: "As the three weeks' annniversary of Lulu's disappearance came around, we were beginning to give up hope. We felt that there had been so many sightings of her or a similar cat in the Terminus Road area that she must be out there, but we just never ever saw her.

"Then on Friday afternoon my husband got a phone call from a lady in Cooden Drive who had seen her on more than one occasion.

"She hadn't thought too much of it until she realised that the cat was eating bird seed from her bird table, so must be starving. She then spotted one of our posters not too far from her house and took a note of the phone number and called.

"My husband decided that he would not wait until the evening and went straight around to the address. As soon as he called Lulu's name from the bottom of the lady's garden he could hear her crying and running through the undergrowth.

"After a brief struggle to get her into the cat box he phoned me at work to say that he had got her.

"I was at work in Eastbourne and dropped everything and drove straight home - I was so pleased to see her and so relieved that she was back home. We took her to the vets and he could find nothing wrong with her other than she was a bit dehydrated and had lost a little weight.

"Lulu herself is so pleased to be home and keeps following me around the house. She didn't want to go out at first but is returning to her usual naughty self day by day.

"We would like to thank everyone who has taken an interest and taken time to phone us - some people on more than one occasion. I must say I will never walk past a missing animal poster again without really thinking hard as to whether or not I have seen the animal!"