Purrrrfect tail for lost Tabitha

Last week the Ballymoney and Moyle Times printed an article about a friendly cat which had suddenly been spotted roaming the streets of Ballymoney town centre and appeared to be homeless.

Well, readers will be happy to meet Tabitha the much-loved pet of Mr and Mrs Leslie of Leslie Hill Farm in Ballymoney who were happily reunited thanks to the Times.

The friendly feline went missing two weeks ago to the distress of the Leslie family - including their granddaughter who travelled last week from Belfast to help with the search.

Speaking to the Times, Mrs Leslie explained: "Tabitha went missing a week last Sunday and we feared the worst. She's 10 years old and just appeared on our doorstep as a big kitten. At the time my granddaughter just cuddled her and said 'she's ours' - and she's been with us ever since.

"Tabitha has always been a very friendly cat and a great part of the family. So you can imagine we were extremely upset that when she went missing. My granddaughter even came up from Belfast to help look for her.

"However we couldn't believe it when we read the article in Ballymoney Times - we knew it was her."

Thankfully a kind-hearted lady from the Glebeside took Tabitha in and once she saw the article in the Times called the office and left her mobile number.

Mr Leslie continued: "Once we'd seen the article we called the Times and they gave us this kind lady's number. When we phone the lady was in town and said that Tabitha had been seen hanging around Taggart Mews.

"We came straight away and couldn't believe it - there she was. We can't think how she got into town, however we are totally over the moon to have her back.

"We really would like to thank the local community for all their help especially the Glebeside lady for looking after Tabitha and the Times for printing the article - without it all we may never have got her back."