An Irish owner and her cat were reunited after they were forced apart.

George is a ten-year-old cat who lived with his owner Fiona in Sydney, Australia for his whole life. However, when his owner had to return to Ireland last year for ill health, she left the cat with her neighbour.

Expand Close George the ginger cat. Photo: Facebook / Facebook

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Whatsapp George the ginger cat. Photo: Facebook

She had hoped it would be a temporary situation and that she would soon return to Sydney but unfortunately George's owner had to remain in Ireland.

The neighbour took care of George until he had to move away, leaving the cat to "fend for himself" according to a Facebook page.

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"Sometime later, George either was dumped or managed to travel 20km away from the only home he knew."

However, the little cat had been fitted with a microchip and was easily tracked down and brought to the vet - that's when Fiona decided he needed to come to Ireland.

Thanks to the support of an Facebook campaign called Bring George Home, Fiona's friends and random kind-hearted strangers and cat lovers raised money for George's vet bills and ticket fare to bring him home.

Her friend Ronan told Independent.ie that "Fiona is elated and full of gratitude to all the people who helped her get George back."

Expand Close George is back with his pals. Photo: Facebook / Facebook

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Whatsapp George is back with his pals. Photo: Facebook

"She said it was one of the best days of her life to be reunited with the friend she never thought she'd meet again. She had been sick but feels like life has completely turned around now that she has her baby back. It's unbelievable, she thought her friends were joking and didn't believe it was possible, she is completely overwhelmed."

He said George is settling into life in Ireland.

"He loves the attention and fuss and is purring away like a train. He's eating very well and has lots of treats and is very much a ladies man!

"At the moment George and Fiona are in Galway for another four weeks before going to Dublin to their permanent home."

Online Editors