Missing cat Big Ginge reunited with Birmingham couple after 10 years

A couple have been reunited with their cat 10 years after he went missing from their narrowboat.

Big Ginge was last seen by owners Colin Clayton and Eva Bellamy in 2011 while on their honeymoon near Fradley Junction - 25 miles from their Birmingham home.

Despite usually hopping on and off the boat, he disappeared and the couple registered him as missing.

They were shocked to receive a call to say he had been found in Staffordshire.

The couple's three cats, Weasel and her offspring Diesel and Big Ginge, then three, were used to living on the canal and went on and off the boat.

Mr Clayton said there had "never been an issue" with the cats finding their way home and then the other two cats came back without Big Ginge.

The couple stayed another five days searching before registering him as missing on his microchip.

Earlier this year, Cats Protection, Lichfield and Tamworth branch, said the team became aware of a stray in Lichfield, who they nicknamed Marmalade.

Sue Hocknell from the branch said: "Over time a local man fed him and gradually Marmalade began to trust him.

"I then got a call to say Marmalade had ventured into his flat and that he had a lump on his flank.

"I managed to get a quick vet appointment and that's when we discovered his true identity."

The lump was not found to be serious and Big Ginge is now back in his original home, but mystery surrounds where he has been over the last decade.

Mr Clayton added: "For now we will be keeping him indoors.

"Big Ginge has had enough stress in his life and we are confident it will all work out."

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