When you have that special cat in your life, there is no way you can ever forget them–or what they mean to you. For a little boy living in the UK, he wasn’t about to forget about Oliver, his ten-year-old sweet ginger tabby that accidentally went missing last May. Oliver and his mother searched endlessly for their cat, putting up posters and phoning local rescues of his whereabouts to see if anyone had turned in their missing cat with a microchip.

As days turned into months, nothing changed, and still little Ronnie was without his precious Oliver. Ronnie’s mother, Michelle Humber, wanted nothing more than to see her son, and his older brother, happy again:

“The boys were devastated when Phoenix went missing because he played such a big part of their lives.”

They went to Cats Protection to go and pick out another rescue cat, hoping to lift the boys’ spirits. The boys and their mother settled on a nice cat named Orlando, and they arranged to pick him up in a few days after he was done having his neutering procedure. But then, by some crazy twist of fate, a true miracle happened:

Phoenix, their cat who had been missing for 18 long months, was in the cat cage up for adoption directly beside Orlando! Equally shocked and overjoyed, the boys knew it was him from his tipped ear, just as Phoenix started to purr loudly.

It turns out that his microchip showed he was registered to a house that was the same as an old address in which they’d lived, although the phone number was out of date and there was no way for the rescue to get in contact with them. Clearly, as you can see, Ronnie cried tears of joy the moment his prayers were answered and his special cat walked back into his life.

Phoenix and his new cat friend, Orlando, were both arranged to be brought home with their loving family, and all parties are happy again. Share this incredible story with your friends who love cats!