Fresh for Feline Friday (we don’t actually normally have a Feline Friday, but we do today!): Willow a pretty little calico cat went missing 5 years ago from her Colorado home after silly construction workers left a door open.

When she couldn’t be found, her owners put up signs and posts online, but figured after a while that something bad had happened to her and she wouldn’t be coming home. “There are tons of coyotes around here, and owls,” Jamie Squires explained. “We put out the ‘lost cat’ posters and the Craigslist thing, but we actually thought she’d been eaten by coyotes.”

But Willow didn’t get eaten by coyotes, obviously. Somehow, someway, she made it safely from Colorado to NYC. Someone found her wandering the streets of Manhattan and took her to Animal Care. Obviously, Willow didn’t make it to Manhattan on her own, someone has been taking care of her as she’s healthy, in good condition and ‘a little chunky’ to quote Richard Gentles, spokesperson Animal Care & Control of NYC.

It seems Willow has a bit of an explorer in her, since someone had been looking after her, she must have escaped her new home for a bit of a look around.

Since 5 long years had passed, and no word on Willow, the Squires, who have 3 children – 17, 10 and 3 year old – had given the cat up for dead. So, imagine their surprise when they received a call from Animal Care & Control of NYC!

According to HuffPo, Jamie Squires’ husband said, `Don’t say anything to the kids yet. We have to make sure,’” Squires said. “But then we saw the picture, and it was Willow. It’s been so long.” When the 3 year old saw the photo, she said, `She’s a pretty cat.’”

The family also have 2 dogs. ”We had another dog back then, too, and I remember that Willow would lie with them as they all waited to be fed,” Squires said. “She thought she was a dog.”

How were Animal Control able to find Willow? Not because they’re a bunch of Doctor Doolittles (which would be cool), but because the Squires had Willow microchipped when she was a kitten.

Personally, if the pet microchipping people don’t make Willow their spokescat (or is that meowcat?) then they’re very silly. What a great ad for them. Because it really does make sense in so many ways to microchip your pet, especially if you travel with them, as the microchipping not only has your information, but your pet’s vet records, which makes quarantine times in some countries much shorter than the norm.

So now Willow is on her way back to be reunited with her family, who are excited to have their cat again.

Don’t you just love a happy ending?