North Texas family finds cat that's been missing for more than 10 years

LUCAS, Texas - A cat that disappeared from its home in Collin County more than a decade ago is back home.

Elyse Fulton said her daughter got Fergie as a kitten in 2006.

“She was a great cat, super friendly and just real loving and just a nice cat,” she said.

But Fergie went missing about 11 years ago while the family traveled abroad. They had asked a friend to take care of their home in Lucas and she disappeared without a trace.

“We didn’t know what happened to her,” Fulton said. “What we think, what we heard was maybe somebody picked her up to rescue her and that was the last that we heard of her.”

That is… until this week. Fulton got a call from a local veterinary hospital saying they had her cat.

Someone who lives nearby found her, noticed she was friendly and took her to the vet to see if she had an owner. The vet was able to read a microchip that was implanted in Fergie years ago.

“They said, ‘Are you missing Fergie?’ And I was like, ‘Sure, like for 10 years now,’” she laughed. “I was just stunned. I was absolutely blown out of the water.”

Fulton said Fergie appears happy to be home.

“She went right back to being the princess cat she was before she left. You know, she’s sleeping on the bed. She knows what a litter box is and all that. Eating good and, again, just seems really happy to be home,” she said.

Fulton now believes the cost of microchipping pets is absolutely worth it.