Colorado cat found in Manhattan five years later

Five years ago, Willow the cat went missing in Colorado during a house renovation. Now, miraculously, the feline was picked up stalking the pavement in Manhattan in New York City and is being reunited with his owners 1800 miles away.

A concerned citizen took the tortoise shell colored cat to an animal pound and his owners were tracked down in Boulder, near the Rocky Mountains, through a microchip embedded in the cat's neck.

So Willow the cat will be flown back to his rightful owners, the Squires of Colorado, an animal pound spokesman, said Richard Gentles, spokesman for Animal Care & Control of New York City the Guardian reports.

There's no doubt the adventurous cat did not travel halfway across the country on its own – and its tubby physique meant it probably had been looked after.

"The cat was in very good condition, clean, a little chunky," Gentles said. "So obviously someone was taking care of her."

Animal Care plans to fly the cat back to the Squires family once it has undergone a mandatory screening test for communicable disease and to assess it is healthy enough for air travel, Gentles said.

Pet owner Jamie Squires said they had long ago given up hope of finding Willow and "couldn't believe it" when they received a voicemail from the shelter saying their pet was alive, the New York Times reports.

"To be honest, there are tonnes of coyotes around here, and owls … She was just a little thing, five and a half pounds [2.5 kilograms]. We put out the 'Lost Cat' posters … but we actually thought she'd been eaten by coyotes."