AFTER travelling to infinity and beyond- or rather from Bobblestock to Ledbury Road- a cat called Buzz who had been missing for 17 months was reunited with his owner.

Buzz went missing from his home in April 2013 and after a wide ranging search his owners- Mande Eaton and Sarah Quick- had lost hope.

So they were delighted to get a call from the Cats Protection Hereford Adoption Centre in Allensmore last week to say Buzz had been found.

Sarah, 49, said: "He has settled back in so well. It is as if he has never been missing.

"We advertised, put posters everywhere and we phoned all the vets. People were so kind.

"We had so many sightings of him but it didn't turn out to be him. We did lose hope in the end.

"When I had the call from the Cats Protection last week I just couldn't believe it.

"He is such a lovely, laidback cat. He is not going out for a long time."

Sarah and Mande, 45, moved from Belmont to Bobblestock and were lodging with a friend when Buzz went missing.

The half Persian cat, who is now five, was spooked by their friend's parakeet and ran away.

Buzz was listed on the free lost and found pet service website, Animal Search UK, which is based in Hereford.

He was brought into Cats Protection by a lady who had been feeding him in Ledbury Road for four months and staff there then found Buzz on the website.

Founder of Animal Search UK, Tom Watkins said: "This is quite rare. I think the longest time since a cat went missing to being reunited with their owner was three years.

"It was a marvellous moment when I heard Buzz had been reunited with his family."

Sarah said their two-year-old miniature schnoodle called Georgie is also very pleased to see Buzz, who is now microchipped.

Cat care assistant, Chelsea Fraser, from the Hereford Cats Protection branch said: "There is the odd few [cats who are reunited with their owners] but I wouldn't say more than six a year. Animal Search has helped quite a lot and we tell everyone about that now. Working together does work very well."