A Southampton family is desperate to be reunited with their missing cat.

Having lost their much loved 12-year-old cat to cancer during the first lockdown, Nigel Bolton, partner Leanne and step-daughter, Alice had mixed feelings about whether they should get another pet.

But when a friend's cat had a litter where three kittens were seeking homes, the family did not have the heart to separate them, so in October 2020 they gave a home to two female kittens and a boy, Alfie.

On May 1, two-and-a-half-year-old neutered and microchipped Alfie, who is completely black with black whiskers and yellow eyes, went out into their garden in the family's Bassett Green home where he has not been seen since.   

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“Alfie means the world to us,” Nigel told The Daily Echo.

“We’ve put posters around the area, flyers into doors and posted on social media but over two weeks later, Alfie still hasn’t returned home.”

He added: “Our neighbours have also been great, one called us after midnight because he had seen a black cat on his CCTV and then followed his direction with me searching for an hour.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t find him that time. But we are monitoring there and have had some further hopeful sightings off Bassett Green Road from a Nextdoor member in the last 24 hours.

“All Cats Rescue, are going to help us bring him home if he is too nervous to be approached after a fortnight roaming.”

Although the worry over missing Alfie grows stronger by the day, the family remain hopeful.

“We so hope he will soon be home, you really can feel his absence.   

“Our advice if this were sadly to happen to you is to get as much coverage as you can as early as possible on both social media and in terms of flyers or notes to neighbours.

“We learned over the first week about websites like Animal Search and PetLog, and whilst we think we have done what we can in walking several miles a day around the area I wish I had known about these sites on the first day.” 

Anyone who thinks they might have seen Alfie is encouraged to contact Pets Reunited on 07401 278039.