Dorchester County, SC – An elderly cat is back in her owner’s arms after four long years apart thanks to her embedded microchip. According to Dorchester Paws, the 18-year-old cat, named Shyla, was adopted from a California shelter, but her owner was able to be reunited with her because the information on the cat’s microchip was kept up to date.

The shelter said:

Shyla is from a shelter in California but no matter where she and her owner moved, her owner always kept information on the microchip up to date. Well the power of a microchip paid off because it was how we found her owner. ❤️

The reunion appears to be fate…Shyla’s owner was just one week from moving away when she got the call about her missing pet.

Though identification tags are an excellent tool for finders to contact the owners of missing pets, microchips are the gold standard. However, it is critical for contact information on the microchip to be kept current.

According to the animal welfare agency, just two percent of cats have a microchip. The current cost to have a cat microchipped is approximately $45.