Dad left mortified after discovering he had spent £180 cremating someone else's cat
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A dad was mortified to discover he had devastated his family and spent £180 cremating someone else's cat - when theirs turned up days later. Michael Deegan was messaged by a local to say that missing nine-year-old Marshall could have been hit by a car so he rushed to an industrial estate to identify her. The upset 42-year-old says the body's ginger stripes and white foot convinced him it was their pet so he took the body home and broke the sad news to daughter Eliza, 12.
However, four days after having him cremated, on November 16, the owner of their old house that they had moved out of three weeks earlier messaged to say they thought their cat had turned up. Dad-of-two Michael visited his old house half a mile away still adamant that it wouldn't be Marshall but as soon as he got there his missing cat ran towards him.
The IT worker admits he felt more embarrassed than emotional but Eliza was so relieved when she returned home from school to find her cat alive and well. She has since nicknamed her "Jesus cat" for her miracle-like return and Michael has been mocked for his blunder - with his father-in-law joking it would make a great Specsavers advert.
His wife Sarah, 44, posted about the "emotional rollercoaster" experience on TikTok and it has since been viewed more than 450,000 times. It explains how Marshall couldn't get used to her family's new home so kept returning to the old house until she went missing at the end of October.
The family are keeping an eye out for anyone missing a cat who looks like Marshall and have kept the unknown cat's ashes just in case. Michael, from Corby, Northamptonshire, said: "I'll never be able to live it down but looking back it's funny and it's a relief that our cat is alive.
