A BELOVED pet, originally rescued from the back streets of Bahrain, has been returned to the bosom of his family after going missing nearly five months ago.

Ali Cat, a jet black tom cat, was brought to the UK from the Persian Gulf state in 1996, and has lived with the Tyler family in North Yorkshire for more than ten years.

The cat, thought to be at least 13, vanished from the family home, in Aiskew, near Bedale, last December.

Owner Christine Tyler said the family was left distraught by his disappearance.

But despair has turned to joy for Mrs Tyler and her husband, Barry, after Ali Cat turned up in a neighbouring town, six miles from his home.

Mrs Tyler said a woman in Masham had been feeding the missing moggy before taking him to the Blue Cross cat adoption centre, at Topcliffe, near Thirsk, on Saturday.

It was here that an identification chip between Ali Cat’s shoulder blades was detected, and staff were able to reunite him with the Tylers the next day.

Mrs Tyler said she had bought Ali Cat one of his favourite treats to welcome him back – some crab from Bedale market.

She said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the call from the centre. I was absolutely elated, in tears, everything. We thought we had lost him for good.

“He is taking a little bit of settling back in, bless him, but we’ll get there.”

Wendy Ellison, manager of the Blue Cross centre, stressed the importance of microchips in reuniting lost pets with their owners.

She said: “Ali Cat had been straying and when we got him we noticed he had a microchip inside him.

“It links up with a national database and brings up the owner’s details.”

This five-month road trip is not the first time Ali Cat has disappeared. He went missing in 2004, only to turn up three weeks later.

He was brought to the UK by Pauline Pengelly, of Aiskew, who saw him on a trip to Bahrain with her husband, Ted.

The Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals paid for veterinary treatment and the cat’s flight to Britain.