Karen Ratcliffe was stunned when she was told her beloved pet had been found safe and well, 38 miles away in the seaside town last week.

She has no idea how the Bengal tabby managed to cross the waves to the Isle of Cumbrae — but she and her family are delighted to welcome him home.
Ozzie was handed into North Ayrshire Cats Protection by a woman who had noticed that he was a stray and they found that he had a microchip which enabled them to trace his original owner.

Karen, from Grange Road, who has three children, Katie (18) Hannah (15) and Nick (14), said: "I got Ozzie and his sister, Ellie, after my husband died to comfort the children a little bit.

"He was the dominant male so he'd often go out and one day he just never came home.

"The children were devastated when he went missing, they made laminated posters and put them all over the area.

"We phoned the local police station and we were all out looking for him, checking garages and rattling cans of food.

"Our worst fear was that we'd find him dead somewhere.
"Getting a call two years later to say he'd been found was incredible, I couldn't believe it. We had all given up hope of finding him safe and well.
"He maybe went over to Millport in the back of some-
one's car or lorry, but we'll never really know, it's a shame cats can't talk, he'd have some story to tell."

Karen's children were delighted to have him back. The only person who isn't so happy to see Ozzie is his sister Ellie because she has got used to having the house to herself and he bullies her a bit and steals her food.

Karen said: "I think Ellie is in shock, she's very timid anyway but since he's been back throwing his weight around she's been hiding under the sofa.

"But we are all delighted to have him back, we missed him while he's been busy having an extended holiday in Millport eating ice-cream!"

Nina Chisholm, a volunteer at North Ayrshire Cats Protection, said: "We got a real shock when we discovered that Ozzie came from Bearsden.

"It wasn't so much the distance but the fact that he had to cross the water.

"It was great to be able to return him to his rightful owner.
"The vast majority of cats aren't microchipped so they just have to be re-homed, this shows how effective the chip is in returning lost cats.

"Without it Ozzie would probably never have got back to Bearsden."

Ozzie was found near a caravan site, so it's possible that he was being fed by people who were on holiday and after the summer when the site was empty he was forced to venture further away for food.