A CAT which fled from a cattery while his owners were on holiday in Spain has been found following an appeal in The Press.

Five weeks after he disappeared from Plantation Boarding Kennels and Cattery in High Catton, 14-year-old pet Monty has been found in farm outbuildings in a neighbouring village, about two miles away.

His owners, Phil Walker and Clare Paradine, both 36, had searched tirelessly for Monty, without luck until they were contacted by a man who had read their appeal in the paper and thought he may have spotted their cat on farmland. Phil went to the farm in Wilberfoss and was about to leave when he decided to check in one of the buildings.

He said: “I went into one of the outbuildings and heard meowing – I thought my ears were playing tricks on me but then he came walking out from behind a pile of logs. He looks quite tatty and has lost a lot of weight but he seems healthy.

“I got back home to Stamford Bridge and the cat followed me in – Clare was dumbstruck.

“For us, getting something in the paper was the last throw of the dice. We had a number of phone calls from people who had seen the article.”

Monty escaped from the cattery while the couple were in Spain after he bolted through a door during a thunderstorm.

Since returning from their holiday they spent the weekends walking across fields and searching surrounding villages looking from him.

Following the appeal in The Press, Phil said he had a stream of phone calls – some expressing sympathy with his situation.

A spokesman for Plantation Kennels said the business had an exemplary record of looking after animals.

He said staff were extremely upset about Monty’s disappearance and had spent “untold hours” searching from him.