McDonald's staff rescue cat 30 miles from home

A pedigree cat who was missing for 11 days has been found 30 miles from home by staff at a McDonald's drive-thru.

Chewie, an eight-year-old Norwegian forest cat, went missing from home in Billericay, Essex, on 14 January.

His owner Sophie Morrish "turned every stone" to try to find him, including ringing all the veterinary practices within a 30-mile radius, knocking on all her neighbours' doors and ringing local businesses.

She got a call on 25 January to say Chewie had been found at the fast-food restaurant off junction 22 of the M25 near London Colney, Hertfordshire.

"We're just so relieved and it's so amazing to have him home," said Ms Morrish, 25.

He was "filthy, grimy and matted" when he was found but otherwise uninjured.

Jo Weaver from Cats Protection St Albans said McDonalds staff had taken Chewie into a back office after he had been spotted approaching customers in the car park.

She was able to take him to have his microchip scanned - which was when she realised his home was in Essex.

"We will never know how he got to London Colney but he had very short and scuffed claws which would suggest that at some time he had been shut in somewhere – possibly a van or lorry - for a considerable time," Cats Protection St Albans said on its Facebook page.

"Normally if a cat's that far from home, they've jumped on a delivery van - but something doesn't make sense as to why the van wouldn't have been checked for two weeks," Ms Weaver said.

"The more horrible theory is that possibly he was stolen and they thought they could breed from him, but he's very obviously neutered, so he was dumped."

Chewie's owner Ms Morrish said she thought it was extremely unlikely he had got into a vehicle voluntarily as he had been hit by a car in 2019 and was "terrified" of vehicles.

She added that one of his favourite activities was going on "long walks" with two of the family's other pets, a golden retriever and a Samoyed.

"We went on a walk to resettle him once we got him back," she said.

"He stayed with me the whole time - he's very loving, cuddly, and clearly happy to be home."

Richard Forte, the franchisee at the London Colney McDonald's, said the firm was "incredibly proud of the restaurant team for going above and beyond" and for "reuniting Chewie with his grateful owner and creating a purrrfect happy ending".

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