Jinnie the cat is no ordinary tortoiseshell kitten.
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Like most cats, she has a penchant for wandering, but few cats could boast they have traveled as far as her.
According to microchip mapping, Jinnie has travelled from Goulburn to Wingello to Tallong to Marulan and back to Goulburn over the space of two months.
Relieved owner Avril Brown said Jinnie disappeared on March 8 this year.
“I set her evening meal along with the other pets (a dog and another cat) and I didn't see her after that,” Mrs Brown said.
She took out ads in the Goulburn Post, but Jinnie did not turn up.
“After not hearing anything for so long, I feared the worst, then two months later, out of the blue, I had a phone call last week from the Marulan Vet saying they had Jinnie and I thought “what the?...”
“Apparently, a man found Jinnie wandering around Wingello. She had been in the neighbourhood for a few days and he picked her up and took her into the general store.
“There was a couple in there from Tallong and he asked them if they knew anything about the cat. He told them he was going to take her to the Pound.
“They were cat lovers and they boldly protested: ‘no -she is not going to the Pound – she is coming with us.
“They took Jinnie and fed her up. She was very skinny. The next day, they took her to the Marulan Vet and checked the microchip. Then I got the call.”
Mrs Brown is still baffled by her cat’s adventure.
“I know cats travel miles but that is a long way. She is only 19 months old. I would say someone has picked her up and she has escaped...but I don’t know why?” She said.
Jinne has had a charmed life so far.
They say cats have nine lives – well Jinnie the tortoiseshell kitten has probably used up a few of them in her recent travels.
She had a lucky start to life. She was found among six kittens in a packet of compost mix on a conveyor belt at a local rural supplies store.
A worker there noticed the bag was out of shape and moving. They ended up at the Southern Tablelands Vet.
And now, Jinnie’s recent feline odyssey is also is a cautionary tale extolling the value of having your pets microchipped. Otherwise, Jinnie might not be back with her adoring owner Avril Brown.
“It just shows you that owners should have their pets microchipped,” Mrs Brown said.
Her other cat Missy went missing for 20 months and was also returned as a result of being microchipped.
“Missy was missing, but she was found at Chinamans Lane. The woman who found her saw the ad in the Goulburn Post and because she was microchipped, Missy was also able to be reunited with me,” she said.
“I have had three cats go missing from here, two have been returned. In Sydney, we had nine cats and a dog and nothing happened to any of those animals.”