Cat came back — 13 years after going missing

updated 9:45 p.m. ET Nov. 11, 2008

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - A couple recently had an unexpected reunion with an old housemate: their pet cat who went missing more than 13 years ago. George, who was last seen by Melinda Merman and Frank Walburg in 1995, was turned into an animal hospital after the manager of a mobile home park trapped the sickly feline.

A microchip implanted in George allowed him to be traced back to his owners.

Merman said after George went missing she visited animal shelters and wrote to veterinarians in search of the gray, yellow-eyed cat, who now weighs less than half what he used to.

But Merman and Walburg said the cat is now eating well and displaying some of his old behavior, like jumping at flickering light on the wall the way he used to.

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