I got my cat, Bandit, back almost eight months after she disappeared. She went missing on Thanksgiving morning, when I was on duty – I’m a firefighter – and I had family come check on her. Bandit got out of the back door, ran out with the dog and we never saw her since. She had got out prior to that occasion and would come home after a couple of hours because she was basically an indoor cat.

When she did turn up, it was three miles away from my house and I guess she bit someone because when they picked her up and scanned her it had ‘aggressive cat’ in her notes. I was afraid she would be quarantined and put down, so I feel very lucky and very thankful. Bandit is a Savannah cat, only one to two generations removed from an African feral cat and therefore more wild and intelligent than an average house cat.

Since she has been away Bandit has acquired new tastes and routines. In a feat of digestion she ate an entire rotisserie chicken to the bone and I sat and looked in awe as she taught herself to use the toilet (I never taught her!) and she seemed really smug and happy. We are both on a learning curve and she has definitely adapted, having lost a lot of weight and she is skittish and not interested in the outdoors.

Bandit is doing great and slowly adapting back to a domesticated life. She is doing well with my other animals and we are overjoyed to have her home! You guys at PetLink were absolutely fantastic and I am so thankful I registerd Bandit’s microchip. I couldn’t have been luckier! In this picture you see us together the day we picked Bandit up at the shelter.