Clive – a family cat, was missing for more than a year, got his family in a fluster. They were searching for him everywhere until someone informed the family that he was found living in a nearby pet food factory. He got out of the house in December 2014 and hadn’t come back since. His owners – Tanya and Jonathan Irons were devastated. The pair posted a Facebook appeal and set up flyers around their area in the hopes of finding the missing cat, but their effort got no response. Tanya said: “He used to be very naughty and liked to go outside a lot. We thought somebody must have taken him in as he’s such a cute cat.”
(h/t: boredpanda)
Meet Clive, the 14-month-old dare-devil who has been wildin’ in a pet food factory
As it turned out, nobody saw a trace of Clive because he was enjoying the time of his life in the most unexpected place. The ever-hungry cat was discovered after employees at a pet food manufacturer realized that cat food was missing and wanted to catch the thief red-handed. They purposedly left trails of cat goodies which lead to a basket suspended over a pressure pad that would drop and trap the suspect inside.
A photo of Clive (Right) and his brother before he went missing
Production supervisor at Kennelgate Pet Superstore Diane Gaskill later told: “I’ve been trying to catch him for weeks when I found out we had such a big cat living in the warehouse. I saw him run past me a couple of times and we found droppings. I set a cat trap one weeknight, and I found him in the morning. He was hissing and spitting, but he knew the game was up. We took him to the vets, and we were able to get the mobile number of his owner. I rang her straight away – she couldn’t believe it.”
Clive reunited with his family
Finally, the family welcomed the gluttonous Clive back – only to notice that their pet cat inflated nearly double his original size. Tanya, Clive’s owner, said: “Clive was nine months old when we lost him – and he was a lot smaller then. When we got him back, we were shocked to see how big and fluffy he was. He’s been living the life of Riley in that pet food factory. We heard Clive was a bit smelly when they caught him, but he seems fine now. He recognizes us; he’s just fatter now.”
“I think he’s been enjoying himself feasting for the past year. He’s wasn’t a big eater before, but he always had to eat very quickly before his brothers stole it. He was probably glad he didn’t have to compete with them to eat for once. He has a huge appetite now though. I’ve had to leave him with a big bucket of food; he just won’t stop eating. We’re not going to put him on a diet though, he’s just a bit rounder, but he’s a perfect cat picture.”
Moral of the story: Watch out for your cat in case they sneak out and can’t find their way home, unless they are thriving in a pet food factory!
