About 14 months ago, a U.K. couple were distraught to discover that their 9-month-old cat, Clive, had gone missing. Despite making appeals on Facebook and placing signs all around the neighborhood, the Norwegian forest cat never turned up and was presumed lost.
In a turn of events that would make Garfield envious, it turns out Clive wasn’t lost; he was merely enjoying an extended stay at a nearby pet food warehouse.
Tanya and Jonathan Irons received a call earlier this week from their local vet with the news that Clive had finally been found. The cat had been trapped at the Kennelgate Pet Superstore after employees noticed a spate of missing food.
“It’s amazing,” retail director Colin Lewis told Andy Jehring of the Mirror. “The warehouse is 20,000 square feet of pet food. I think there’s been a few holes in some of the boxes.”
Clive’s family is thrilled to be reunited with their much-larger feline. (Photo: Kennelgate Pet Superstores/Facebook)
Using a live trap baited with food, workers were able to capture Clive. A vet later identified him through a microchip. When the Irons family showed up to reunite with their lost cat, they were surprised to discover he had nearly doubled in size.
“When we got him back, we were shocked to see how big and fluffy he was,” Tanya told the paper. “He’s obviously been living the life of Riley in that pet food factory.”
Despite the weight gain, Clive’s family has no plans to put him on a diet.
“He’s wasn’t a big eater before, but he always had to eat very quickly before his brothers stole it,” Tanya added, noting that Clive now gets a big bowl that he doesn’t have to share with the other cats in the house. “He was probably glad he didn’t have to compete with them to eat for once.”
