Drainpipe cat reunited with owner after more than two years on the run (2024)

A fugitive pet cat that had taken up residence in drainpipes has been reunited with his owner almost two-and-a-half years after he disappeared — but only after the feel-good ending was nearly thwarted by another escape attempt.

The cat, called George, originally went missing when he absconded through a laundry and a doggy door in his Davoren Park home in Adelaide's north in March 2022.

Despite a months-long search effort in which George's owner Jess van Niekerk left posters around the neighbourhood, and put out urgent appeals on social media, the "skittish" and furry black-and-white escapee could not be found.

"I was stressed out and looking around and frantically trying to find him before he got too far," Ms van Niekerk said.

"I sort of assumed the worst because it had been so long … and I just accepted the fact that I wasn't going to see him again."

But all that changed a fortnight ago when, in the middle of a lesson at the primary school where she teaches, Ms van Niekerk got a message saying that George had been found.

"I saw a text message and my mum was trying to call me, and she had sent me a message and I saw it on my watch pop up, and it said, 'You'll never believe it — George is alive,'" Ms van Niekerk said.

"I was just so shocked … it was crazy."

Little did she know that her beloved long lost pet had spent the intervening two-and-a-half years at an industrial park at Edinburgh, several kilometres from where he disappeared, and that he had made new friends.

Having no clue as to the cat's identity, local workers had developed a habit of feeding the cuddly stranger.

"He always looked quite healthy but we never twigged that he would be a stray pet," Courtney Mincham said.

"He was actually living in the drainpipes around our workplace — there's a bit of a network of them around the area, because he would go through one and pop out the other.

"I called him 'Harry', which is ironic because his real name is 'George', so quite a royal-named cat."

'We were just over the moon'

The creature's "real" identity might never have been revealed if Ms Mincham had not, three weeks ago, spotted something wrapped around his neck.

Fearing the animal could get snagged, Ms Mincham contacted the RSPCA, who brought around a cat trap in a bid to lure the animal to safety.

"[On] Monday morning when I came into work it turned out we had been successful and we had caught him — but one of my well-meaning co-workers went to feed the cat and accidentally released him," Ms Mincham said.

This second escape forced Ms Mincham to resort to desperate measures.

"Fellow stray-catchers on the internet suggested KFC as a way to get back into the trap they'd already escaped from, and so I put a bit of KFC in the trap every night," she said.

"I reckon he likes the original tenders — apparently the smell gets them going and it worked.

"Five days later on the Friday I came into work and he had been caught again."

What Ms Mincham had spotted around George's neck turned out to be part of a harness he had been wearing ever since he first escaped in 2022.

After the cat was successfully apprehended for a second time, the process of identifying both him and his rightful owner could begin — and the RSPCA said the saga highlighted the crucial importance of microchipping, which is a legal requirement in SA.

"Back at RSPCA's animal care centre at O'Halloran Hill, a quick scan revealed the precious microchip that would lead to a heartwarming reunion," the agency said.

"They sort of did a reveal and he took a while to warm up, like a minute or so," Ms van Niekerk said of the moment she and George were reacquainted with one another.

"[But] after I came up close, he sort of recognised me straight away. It was a bit special."

Ms Mincham admitted she would miss seeing George near her workplace, but was glad he'd been returned to the "best possible place I could ever want him to be".

"When I found out that his microchip had a positive hit, and the owners wanted him home, we were just over the moon. That was the best sort of ending we could have asked for."

Ms van Niekerk was full of praise and gratitude for Ms Mincham and her coworkers, saying George even appeared to have filled out since going missing.

As for her pet's Houdini-esque habits, Ms van Niekerk said she was keeping close watch on his movements.

"He's been confined to the house, and just the cat run for now. I don't know if I'll let him go outside any time soon," she said.

"He's just as cuddly — the same old George, he jumps up on you … trying to see what you're doing or trying to pinch your food. He's back to being his little piggy self."