Belmont family reunited with missing cat Gingernuts after month-long search

A Belmont mum had an ‘emotional’ reunion with her 11-year-old cat after a month-long search for the beloved feline.

Desperate search for missing Belmont cat, Gingernuts.

A Belmont family has been reunited with their 11-year-old cat after a month-long search for the beloved feline.

Mum Tara, who did not want her surname published, was searching for four weeks to find her cat, Gingernuts, after he went missing from their home on November 16.

More than 160 locals across Geelong where keeping an eye out for Gingernuts, after a social media group gained online traction.

After almost giving up hope, Tara was contacted on Thursday by a woman who lived about a three minute drive from her home.

The woman said she believed a cat in her backyard was Gingernuts.

“She said he was hanging around for the last few weeks ... he had been coming in through their dog door.”

“They hadn’t seen any posters and didn’t know anything about a missing cat,” she said.

Belmont cat, Gingernuts. Picture: Supplied

Tara said the woman looked online and saw her posts about Gingernuts.

When Tara arrived at the woman’s home, she heard a meow and followed the noise up the family’s driveway.

“He was in their backyard, looking through the gate and meowing at me,” she said.

“I took a double take ... then I realised it was him and I burst into tears.

“He came straight to me, I picked him up and he was purring.

“I’ve never seen him so happy.”

Tara said Gingernuts was “skin and bone” when she found him.

“He is light as a feather, he hasn’t been eating,” she said.

Tara has owned Gingernuts since he was taken to an emergency vet as a stray when he was just three-weeks old.

She is planning on building an outdoor enclosure for him.

“I wanted to give up so many times because I thought he had passed away somewhere,” Tara said.

“This proves that if you don’t give up and you keep putting it out there, it’s very possible that you can get your animal back.”

Originally published as Belmont family reunited with missing cat Gingernuts after month-long search