Seven years after her disappearance, the missing cat reappears 850 kilometers from home | the animals

Choupette disappeared seven years ago after a fight with some neighborhood cats, says the family from the town of Mayenne in northwest France. When their favorite pet didn't come home, his concerned owners did everything they could to find him. Posters bearing photos of Choupette were hung throughout the neighborhood, and notice of her arrest was circulated online. All this in vain, because Choupette remained missing.

Until now, because in early January, the family received a phone call from someone claiming to have found Choupette in Savoy, southwest France, about 850 kilometers away. Her owner, Mathieu, told France Bleu: “I thought it was a joke, but we received pictures and videos and it was definitely about Choupette. We really thought she was dead.”

Matteo and his wife Stephanie were finally reunited with their beloved pet on January 21. “She recognized us immediately,” says Matteo. The eldest daughter, who was two years old when Choupette disappeared, no longer remembers the cat, and the younger daughter, almost two years old, met the animal for the first time. The mother says: “There is no problem at all. Choupette is more affectionate than before. She must have seen a lot during those seven years.”