Missing kitten Pikachu reunited with family after 16 years

Haarlem woman Lydia was shocked when she received a call from an animal shelter telling her that Pikachu, the kitten that disappeared from her garden 16 years ago, had been found, Hart van Nederland reports.

The black kitten, now an old cat, was found in Nieuw-Vennep over the weekend. Pickachu is chipped, so the shelter could find his owner.

Marleen Welbergen of the shelter told Hart van Nederland that the call caught poor Lydia by surprise. "I have no cat by that name", she said to the shelter. "But I said: yes, he is registered in your name and on your home, so it really is your cat."

Lydia and her friend Marcel went to pick Pikachu up from the shelter in Hoofddorp on Tuesday. She immediately knew that it was really the kitten she lost so long ago.