The epic story of a kitten named Poppy: Adorable grey tabby cat goes missing from her family home only to turn up two years later – and now she’s at the centre of a bitter ownership dispute
- Lily Downie was nine when her family got her a kitten after her father died
- Poppy went missing and found a second home when Ms Downie moved out
- The grey tabby has miraculously been reunited with Ms Downie two years later
An adorable grey tabby named Poppy has been reunited with her owner two years after she went missing.
Lily Downie, from Sydney, was just nine when her mother decided to get her a kitten to help console her after the death of her father in 2010.
But when Ms Downie and her family moved to be closer to city two years ago, Poppy went missing and found a new home with a family in the same suburb.
Poppy is now at the centre of a bitter dispute with both families claiming ownership.
The cat’s second family are now claiming they are the rightful owners and have sent repeated messages to Ms Downie.
Poppy (pictured) went missing two years ago but has miraculously returned to her family home
Lily Downie (pictured), from Sydney, was just nine when her grandfather gave her Poppy as a gift to help console her after the death of her father in 2010
Speaking to her local newspaper Ms Downie explained how she had Poppy from a kitten.
‘My mum got me a kitten to help me feel better,’ Ms Downie told the Inner West Courier.
‘My pop found a stray cat that had kittens under a bed. He said we could take one and that is how we got Poppy. He was so tiny, he was just a two-week old kitten.’
Poppy’s second owner, a woman who wished to remain anonymous, took Poppy to the vet to get her microchip checked but the details were out of date and the owners couldn’t be contacted.
Failing to find Poppy’s owners, the woman and her family decided to take her on as their own, giving her a new name and paying hundreds of dollars worth of vets bills.
They even spent $1,000 to get her teeth cleaned and micro-chipped her with their details in case she went missing again.
Ms Downie received a tip-off by a friend who claimed her lost cat had been spotted around Rozelle
Meanwhile Ms Downie received a tip-off by a friend who claimed her lost cat had been spotted around Rozelle.
She then received an unexpected phone call by a woman who said: ‘Hey are you still looking for your cat? I think I have caught him.’
Ms Downie was reunited to Poppy two and a half years later and sent a picture of Poppy into her local newspaper, which ran the story about the happy reunion on their front page.
However, Poppy’s other family also saw the story and is now claiming ownership.
The Rozelle woman says she has ownership papers for Poppy and has tried to contact Ms Downie multiple times, which have so far been unsuccessful.