Cat found scared and starving in disused St Annes house returns home

When ginger tom Holmes disappeared from his Alexandra Road home just before Christmas, his owner Simon Prestwich, 36, wife Elektra and children Arizona, Tiana and Curtis thought the streetwise cat had gone on one of his adventures.

But they began to worry when he failed to return home and remained AWOL well into the new year.

It was only when they saw his familiar face on the Blackpool Gazette’s website that they found out that he had gotten himself trapped inside a disused house nearby, and had been rescued almost one month later.

Simon, who works as a carer for Tiana and Curtis, who are disabled, said: “I was shocked, I suppose. I just couldn’t believe it, but I could immediately tell it was him. He has a little bit missing from one of his ears, because he used to be a stray.

“We told the children and they were eager to get him home.”

Holmes, who was adopted by the Prestwich family four years ago, was found in a house on Church Road earlier this month by Preston electrician Alex Bolton, 18, who had been sent to clean out the property.

He called local pet rescue Homeward Bound, who took Holmes in, and an appeal for his owner was published in The Gazette.

It is believed he was trapped inside the disused house since shortly after his disappearance, as Alex found cat faeces inside the property.

He is now safe back home with his family - and has been microchipped to avoid him getting lost again in the future.

Simon said: “We’re quite lucky. He’s very pleased to be home and very hungry, but because he’s not eaten for such a long time his stomach has shrank, so he’s on half-sachets at the moment, which he’s very disgruntled about.

“He was curled up on Tiana’s bed next to her. The kids are absolutely over the moon to have him back.”

Alex, of Rosewood Avenue, Higher Walton, said he was ‘very happy’ that Holmes’ owners had been found.