Little boy stumbles upon his lost cat at a rescue center

A house cat vanished for 18 months, but was remarkably reunited with its family.

Ronnie Cockroft’s best friend, Phoenix, went missing from home in May of last year, the Mirror reports. After months of searching, the family lost hope and decided to get a new kitten.

“It came to the point a few weeks ago where we were talking about getting a kitten,” Cockroft’s mom, Michelle Humber, told the Mirror. “The lads were really keen on the idea because they missed Phoenix so much.”

Last week, the family visited the Cats Protection’s Derby Adoption Centre in Dalbury Lees, U.K., where five-year-old Cockroft spotted his long-last friend, The Press and Journal reports.

The heart-warming video shows Cockfort in tears as he reunites with Phoenix.

“It was amazing and the children were so pleased,” Humber told Mirror. “Ronnie saw him straight away and was screaming and cheering with excitement.”

The family had already chosen a new cat named Orlando. When they returned to collect him, they stumbled upon Phoenix sitting in his enclosure next to Orlando’s, according to the Mirror.

“I don’t know what the odds are of what happened to us but I imagine they’re pretty small,” Humber told the Mirror.

The staff at the Cats Protection centre were able to confirm through a microchip that Phoenix was indeed the family’s cat.

Sadly, the family wasn’t able to take both cats home.

Humber explains in the video that Orlando has the feline immunodeficiency virus and needs to be the only indoor cat. The family is thrilled to be reunited with Phoenix and wishes Orlando the same happy ending.