A family in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, was reunited with their tabby cat, George, more than nine years after he vanished when the animal rescue charity Scottish SPCA identified him through a microchip and contacted the owners.

Fran Henriquez, who lives with her husband Billy and their two children, said she was stunned when the charity rang to say they had found a cat whose microchip was registered to her. They phoned and said they had my cat and my first thought was 'that's weird, my cat is on the sofa right now','' she said. Then they said the microchip said his name is George and I thought 'it can't be him! It's a bit of a miracle.' ''

Henriquez travelled to the charity's Glasgow base to collect George. The 14-year-old cat had been found while staff were collecting other animals in the city and was identified after a microchip check. The family, who originally took George in as a stray and had him for four years before he disappeared in 2016, found him in generally good condition apart from matted fur and dental problems.

``He is exactly how we remember him. He's friendly and gentle, and so relaxed at home,'' Henriquez said. George is settling back into family life and sharing space with the household's other cat, Freddy. The couple's elder child remembered George from before he went missing; their younger son had only heard stories of the cat.

When George disappeared in 2016, Henriquez and her family put up posters, asked neighbours to keep watch and searched nearby rural areas. They received a few reports that proved to be other animals and eventually assumed George had died.

The Scottish SPCA said the case illustrated the importance of microchipping and reiterated its campaign for compulsory cat chipping in Scotland. The charity has urged owners to ensure their animals' microchip details are up to date so lost pets can be reunited with their families quickly.

Henriquez said the reunion was bittersweet because George is now elderly and the family had missed most of his life, but added they hoped to give him ``a really nice retirement.''