Family 'overjoyed' after being reunited with missing cat after six years

Six years after losing their precious hand-reared kitten a family has been left overjoyed to be reunited with their beloved cat. Marie Edwards recalled how she had found Twig the cat as a new born kitten in their garden.

Despite Twig being so little she would need feeding every two hours, Marie, her partner Ned Woodman and son Arlo Woodman worked to raise her. Against the odds, Twig survived and became a new member of the family.

Marie recalled the day Twig came into their lives over seven years ago, telling the Manchester Evening News: "We had a stray cat living in our garden, but we didn't know. One afternoon seven and a half years ago I could hear my chickens really clucking, so I went to see what was going on.

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"In the middle was a tiny creature, I picked it up and brought it in. I saw that it was a kitten, and I still saw that it had its umbilical cord attached. The vet confirmed that it was a kitten."

Kittens at such a vulnerable stage need constant care, including helping them to go to the toilet, as well as feeding them every two hours. Marie said the vet

"Most of them don't survive. The vet told me that she probably wouldn't survive."

Twig was also not the only kitten that the family would find. Four other kittens had also been scattered around.

"I could hear kittens", said Marie. "We eventually found four kittens that had been scattered. When cats give birth and feel under threat they scatter their kittens."

Despite a caution from the vet that Twig was unlikely to make, the family worked hard to raise her and her siblings. "We had to wake up every two hours to hand feed them," said Marie. "We hand reared her and all five