Six years after she went missing in Ontario, Cleo the cat has been reunited with her Edmonton owner.

Cleo’s owner, Amanda Graham, said her connection to her cat began before Cleo was even born.

“Her mom is a friend of mine’s cat.

“We were there when she was born and all through when she was a little baby.”

Graham said Cleo was the smallest kitten and nearly died after birth.

“She got really sick and almost died but all the other kittens would take turns cuddling with her.”

It was Cleo’s adventurous spirit that separated the two friends.

“She just liked being outside,” Graham explained.

“She just kept getting out and not coming back. Someone would find her and we’d bring her home and then she would get out again and then wouldn’t come back. The last time we didn’t find her and assumed the worst.”

In September, 2014 Cleo was found by the pound in Brockville, Ontario and ended up on the list of pets to be euthanized.

But the Stuck in the Mud Animal Rescue stepped in and began searching for Cleo’s owner after they discovered the animal had a tattoo.

Through Facebook they were able to track Graham down.

It was then the work of getting Cleo across the country began.

“This is just amazing the support and the people that donated has just been amazing. Everybody was so happy to see the cat getting home,” Brenda Potts from the Quinte Lost Cat Network said.

Potts was one of the volunteers that brought Cleo to Edmonton.

“I was hoping that Cleo for six years had been looking for Amanda all that time and that she would just glom onto her and remember who she was. I think that might have happened. So I am really happy about it.

“We have no idea what she was doing for six years. What kind of experience she had. We just knew that she was really sensitive,” Potts explained. It was that sensitivity that lead the volunteers to try and find Cleo’s owner.

“There have been a lot of people involved here. The person who paid for the flights, the rescue society, that actually found her and brought her to the veterinarian. It takes a lot of parts to make this happen and each and every one is integral,” Charles West, the veterinarian who gave Cleo the tattoo, said at the airport.

“It was a happy moment. We have enough of those that are not quite as happy where we can’t find the owners. I just wanted to see it and talk to Amanda and see the happiness that happens.”

With files from Amanda Anderson