After a year of searching, a pet owner randomly found her long-lost cat while out on a walk, and the sweet moment, captured in a viral TikTok video, has melted hearts among social-media users.
The clip, shared on Wednesday under the username @lando_lolo_lyra, shows the poster spotting Henry in a narrow partway by a local park, gently calling his name out as she approaches him. The feline takes a minute to sniff her hand before walking away, only to return for more cuddles moments later.
“The moment I found my family’s cat after he was missing for almost a year! He was a little confused at first but stayed around when he heard me call his name. We had another little helper who insisted she come along. I kept talking to him hoping he would remember who I was!” the poster wrote in the clip.
“He needed a little time to be sure. But he kept coming back to me. Our little helper stayed with us the entire time. After a little uncertainty, this was the moment he knew for sure who I was … I never gave up on trying to find him. After almost a year of Henry being missing I can’t believe I finally found him!”
The poster said in the caption that, while Henry was missing, she never gave up, and she posted on local missing animal groups and town pages almost every week.
“I put up posters around the area and kept at it for months until I found Henry. It was the best feeling ever when I did! This just proves that you should never give up. Even when things seem hopeless, there is always hope,” she wrote.
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Lost animals often manage to get back to their owners one way or another. If your pet is microchipped, chances are you may get them back after going missing.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says, of the 5.8 million cats and dogs that entered shelters across the country in 2024, at least 554,000 dogs and 362,000 cats were returned to their owners.
The clip quickly went viral on social media and has so far received over 667,400 views and more than 50,800 likes on the platform.
One user, Testerossa, commented: “Henry looks like he moved out got married got a 25 year mortgage and bills he can’t pay.”
Daseinmeister posted: “I’d have screamed so loud he would have been gone for another year.”
Frengers added: “My first cat disappeared when we got a new she cat. Turned up 5 years later on the roof of our greenhouse. Said hi, petted him and he left again.”
Newsweek reached out to @lando_lolo_lyra for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
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