The Basin: ‘Billboard Cat’ Willow found, reunited with family after 22 months missing

A beloved cat from The Basin is back in her family’s arms after an extraordinary search. See the heartwarming the video of their reunion.

A family from The Basin has been reunited with their beloved cat, nearly two years after she vanished and on the back of a massive campaign to find her.

Julianne Beck and two of her children, Sienna and Declan, had an emotional reunion with Willow, 2 at Burwood East’s RSPCA shelter after she was found in Banksia St, Clayton and handed in on November 2.

Willow disappeared from the family’s Academy Drive home as an eight-month old kitten on New Year’s Eve 2019.

The family went to extraordinary lengths to find her, creating a sign on a fence and a Facebook page where Willow became known as ‘The Basin Billboard Cat’.

The original sign created by the Beck family to try and find Willow the cat in January 2020. File picture.

The Basin's Sienna and Declan Beck picked up their cat, Willow, from the RSPCA on November 3, 22 months after she went missing. Picture: Supplied.

A real estate agent also helped them create another billboard when the sign was stolen.

Ms Beck searched the streets in her dressing gown almost nightly to try and find her when Melbourne’s Covid-19 curfew wasn’t in place.

“I used to search in the middle of the night from 2am to 3am, out in the neighbourhood in my dressing gown … with a torch, toys and a cat-finding kit,” she said.

“So many people were involved looking for that bloody cat.”

Ms Beck broke down in tears when an Animal Aid representative called her while the family was holidaying in Moama, telling her Willow had been found alive and well.

“I bawled my eyes out, I drove home and I kept thinking, am in an alternative reality, am I dreaming?” she said.

“She means so much to us, the thought of her being out there by herself, fending for herself all this time is just heartbreaking.”

Willow the Cat has been reunited with Julianne Beck and her daughter Sienna, 22 months after she disappeared from their home in The Basin. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The family has three other cats — Hunter, Foxy and Chewy — with Foxy and Chewy adopted while Willow was missing.

Ms Beck said Willow was “thin and a little grubby but still looking fabulous” and was getting to know her new feline friends and family again back on home turf.

She also planned to put a Tab Cat tracker on Willow to ensure she didn’t go on another epic prowl around the suburbs.

“There are so many cats out there that people forget about, and every reunion story I read gave me inspiration to keep going,” Ms Beck said.

“The relief is immense, I’m beyond ecstatic and I can’t put it into words how joyful we are.”