Cat Missing for 7 Years Found Living in Factory 900 Feet Away from His Original Home

Mar. 15, 2025

Stephanie Barstow with her cat Duke before the feline disappeared in 2017.Photo:SWNS/Stephanie Barstow

SWNS/Stephanie Barstow

Executive assistant Stephanie Barstow’s cat Duke, who she got in 2015, disappeared in January 2017. After months of searching for the cat, Barstow tried to accept she may never see the feline again — and then, in December 2023, there was a knock at her door.

According to SWNS, a local vet knocked on Barstow’s door and told her that her cat had been found in a factory.

“When I first opened the door, I thought it was a debt collector or someone like that because she asked me to confirm my name – I was panicking,” Barstow said, per the outlet. “But she was a vet.”

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Duke the cat and Stephanie Barstow reunite after the feline went missing in seven years ago.SWNS/Stephanie Barstow

“She asked me if I was the owner of a cat called Duke – I couldn’t believe it. She told me that he had been found just 300 yards away from my home at a factory,” the 35-year-old added. “I was absolutely shocked - I just completely broke down.”

Barstow explained to SWNS that she believes Duke didn’t come home “that night” he vanished in 2017 due to having “a little bit of a fight” with his brother Nero. The cat owner had also just given birth, “so there was a lot of change going on, and I know cats don’t really like change.”

“I got very depressed and stressed about it,” Barstow said of Duke’s disappearance. She added that she feared Duke was in danger after a fox killed a neighbor’s cats.

After eight months of scouring the neighborhood and surrounding areas for the pet, Barstow gave up searching and started hoping Duke would return on his own.

Barstow said the vet tried to find her through Duke’s microchip, but the phone number connected to the chip was outdated and no longer belonged to Barstow. Thankfully, the vet recognized the cat due to his white paws and facial markings.

Duke the cat relaxing in his new home.SWNS/Stephanie Barstow

Barstow decided it would be best for Duke to go to a new home as she has since welcomed another child and bought a dog. She said she felt that if she brought Duke home, he would try to return to the factory, which is “no longer safe for him.”

Barstow now gets regular updates from Duke’s new owner and knows her former pet is “happy and safe.”

source: people.com