Lilly went missing from her Tipperary owners last June and was found in Mullingar.

It's a long way from Tipperary for lost cat Lilly

A cat which went missing from its home in Tipperary in June of last year was finally found at the start of this month – more than a hundred miles away, in Mullingar.

Lilly, a white Maine Coon breed cat, broke the hearts of Anita and Aidan Cleary and their children, Tristan (12) and Sallyanne (10), when she disappeared from their home at Bansha in Tipperary.

“We searched everywhere, and spent days driving around hoping to find her, and we reported it to the gardaí,” says Anita, who becomes emotional as she remembers the worry she and her family went through before being reunited with Lilly last week.

Anita's husband, Aidan, a courier, used to ask in towns he visited to see if anyone had seen the missing cat, and the family put out appeals on social media with pictures of the their missing pet.

Recently however, a picture of Lilly was shared on the site 'Bring Tiny Home', set up by Aileen Byrnes after her dog went missing – and despite the months that had passed, there was finally success.

“A woman called Salamander Sinko found the cat outside a shop in Mullingar,” says Anita, going on to explain that Lilly was then cared for by Ger Butler at the Cry for Help Cattery in Mullingar and also fostered by Paula Bartley Griffin.

Photographs were exchanged, until Anita was left with no doubt but that the cat was Lilly, and so last Tuesday, there was an emotional reunion between cat and owner in Mullingar.

When Anita got Lilly back, there were oil marks on her white fur, and she generally wasn't in as good a condition as when she went missing.

However, she is really grateful to those in Mullingar who got the cat treated by a vet after she was found, and who cared for her and went to great efforts to see if they could find her rightful owner.

Deep down, Anita always believed the would find Lilly.

“I never gave up hope: I had this feeling that she wasn't dead and that some day we would find her.”

Her suspicion is that the cat may have been stolen.

“I don't know where she was all that time and I'll never know and it's probably just as well,” says Anita.

Anita and her family are true pet  lovers. "We have five dogs and I also run a page on Facebook called 'Lost and Found Animals Tippperary'.

"We also have adopted an ex-breeding puppy farm Cavalier King Charles called Bailey and we are devoted to animals, and we foster dogs from time to time."