An “adventurous” cat has been reunited with his family after being discovered over 130 miles away from home.

Dexter vanished from his home near Wolverhampton four months ago, leaving his owners, the Walkers, ‘really upset’ as they tried to search for him. After hearing nothing for all that time, the family received a call out of the blue on Tuesday (August 17) to say the three-year-old cat was safe and well in Ludgershall.

“My husband got a call to say he’d been found, but down in Wiltshire,” said Jo. “As we’re up north in the West Midlands, it really was a bit of a shock!

“We were a bit bewildered as to how he ended up all the way down there, but it was lovely to just know he was ok.”

The family adopted Dexter from a rescue shelter two years ago, and during that time had become a key part of the family. Jo said that he would regularly explore the outside world when he wasn’t sleeping.

“He’s quite an adventurous cat outside and brings us lots of gifts,” she said. “When he’s not asleep he likes to be outside and chase pigeons and go after birds.”

“He brings stuff in like a real pigeon,” said daughter, Ashleigh. “It’s a bit messy but he makes me really happy.”

However, at the start of May, the family found that Dexter had disappeared, and couldn’t be found anywhere.

“We’ve had a few cats over the years and it’s really upsetting when cats go missing,” Jo said, “as you know sometimes that’s what they do. Obviously, you want to know they’re ok and that something bad hasn’t happened to them.”

“Ashleigh in particular was really upset as she really dotes on him.”

The family posted flyers and appealed for sightings on social media, but their cat was nowhere to be found.

“There was no sign of him anywhere, so you do lose a bit of hope,” Jo added.

While the family searched for him, Dexter was going on a journey. Believed to have got into a works vehicle, he ended up travelling to a service station on the M6, where he was for some time until jumping into the back of a Ludgershall resident’s car earlier this month.

The kind-hearted driver took him back to his home, before bringing him to Foxcotte Vets in Ludgershall.

“When we checked for a microchip, we were shocked to find the microchip was belonging to an address near Wolverhampton!” said Jess Walmsley, from the vets.

“Once we had located the owners' details, I called and left a message for his owners who called back shortly after receiving a missed call from us.

The owner was very confused as to why we had phoned, but once I had explained that Dexter had just been handed into us, he was overjoyed.”

The news also went down well with the rest of the family, as Jo recalls.

“When Ashleigh heard the call to say he had been found she cried for about 10 minutes, really cried happy tears,” she said.

As the Walkers prepared to make the three hour trip to Ludgershall, Dexter was being looked after at the vets.

“He was sprawled out on our office desk getting lots of fuss and cuddles,” Jess said, “and walking around helping the nurses with their admin work!”

The Walkers picked up Dexter on Wednesday, August 18, and their feline friend is now settling back into life in the West Midlands.

“He’s settled back into home really well and is sleeping loads like he used to do,” Jo said. “He’s pestering me for his food, so that hasn’t changed, and he still likes his cuddles.

“We’ve been told not to let him out for a few weeks but it’s really hard, because he likes to be outside.”

While Dexter is re-acclimatising to life off the road, Jess said that for many other cats, the situation could be very different.

“Dexter was very lucky to have a registered microchip and one that was up to date,” Jess said. “Many cats go missing every day that aren't chipped, and this story goes to show just how important microchipping cats are.”

Jo would like to thank the Ludgershall resident who found Dexter, and if that is you, or someone you know, get in touch at newsdesk@andoveradvertiser.co.uk and we can pass your contact details on