By Hayley Robinson

A little girl has been reunited with her missing kitten almost six-weeks to the day since he went missing.

Four-year-old Ruby Websper was heart broken when nine-month old Oliver disappeared from the family home in The Fairway, Sittingbourne, on December 28.

Ruby and her parents Alison and Mark posted more than 500 leaflets through people’s doors and attached posters to lampposts in the area in the hope someone had seen or taken in the friendly moggy.

Their hard work paid off when on Sunday the family received a call from a couple in Northwood Drive who said they’d seen one of the leaflets and spotted a cat matching Oliver’s description living in a greenhouse of an empty house.

Alison said: "They said they’d taken pictures of the cat so my husband went round and had a look at them and he instantly knew it was Oliver.

"We went to the green house but he was no where to be seen. So on Monday night we set a humane cat trap kindly provided by the Sittingbourne branch of the RSPCA, and when we checked it Tuesday morning there he was.

"He was bit distressed and he was crying – I was worried he’d be a bit feral but when I stroked him he was absolutely fine.

"It turns out lots of different people had been feeding him so he looked quite good considering.

"Ruby’s over the moon that he’s back home. He was a bit dirty so he had his first bath which he didn’t like very much and on Tuesday night he slept on Ruby’s bed.

"It’s so surreal, we just can’t get our heads around it. My husband thought he was dead whereas I didn’t like to give up hope - I simply thought he’d been taken in by another family."

The family are now wary about letting Oliver out again but they have been given some advice by the RSPCA.

Alison said: "We’ve been told to keep him in for two to three weeks and to make sure the cat flap is closed at night so he can’t get out.

"Our dog Bob doesn’t look too pleased to see Oliver though - I think he thought he’d gone for good but I’m sure he’ll be fine once he gets used to him again."