Missing cat reunited with family after owner hears his meowing over the phone

(Image credit: iStock)

During a call with her cat's vet, Rachael Lawrence heard a noise in the background that made her almost drop the phone.

It was meowing that sounded just like her family's other cat Barnaby, who went missing eight months ago from their home in Essex, England. Lawrence asked about the cat, and was told it was a stray that had been brought in. After hanging up, Lawrence couldn't stop thinking about the distinctive meow, and called back to ask more questions. "It was bugging me," she told BBC News.

Lawrence inquired if the cat had black fur with a white patch by one of its back feet, and after being told yes, she raced to the vet, with photos of Barnaby to show as proof that it was her feline. As soon as Barnaby was brought in the room, "I knew it was him," Lawrence said, and she began to cry. Her three children are delighted to have Barnaby home, and Lawrence said he's "more than happy to be picked up and cuddled."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.