A pet cat named Joy has been reunited with her owner more than six days after first becoming trapped in rubble following the deadly earthquakes in Italy’s central region.

More than 290 people died in after a devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake and a series of aftershocks that hit the towns of Amatrice, Accumili di Rieti and Pecara del Tronto, the effects of which were felt in Rome.

Much of these towns were reduced to rubble and many of their residents have been left completely homeless after their houses were destroyed by the quake.

One woman named Daniela in Amatrice was forced to flee her house during the disaster and was unable to find her pet cat as she left to save herself.

The cat, named Gioia or ‘joy’, had hidden itself somewhere, but Daniela was unable to return to look for her pet after her home completely collapsed in an aftershock, The Local reports.

Daniela told rescuers and firemen to “please find her, she’s all I have left.”

After more than six days of searching it appeared unlikely that Daniela would be reunited with her cat, until one day when the rescue teams were digging through the rubble with a bulldozer, Joy was spotted.