Cat found in Austria six months after going missing in Netherlands

Dutch cat Pepper is quite a wanderer it seems. Six months after going missing from his owner's home in Tilburg, the three year old cat turned up in Vienna, Omroep Brabant reports. 

According to the broadcaster, the cat was found by a hunter near Vienna, Austria. She had worms in her lungs and was severely emancipated. Luckily Pepper was chipped, and the chip led to her Dutch owner Franka Schapendonk. 

"I got a call from a foreign number, so I didn't answer. The voicemail picked up and it turned out to be a veterinarian from Austria. They found pepper", Franka said to the broadcaster. She couldn't believe it at first. "But when they sent pictures, I immediately saw that it was Pepper. I was so happy."

How the cat made it all the way to Austria is a mystery. The leading theory is that Pepper jumped into a truck in the Netherlands and hitched a free ride. 

Franka will go pick Pepper up over Carnival weekend. "It's quite a hassle to have her come on a plane, for example. That's why I decided to go get her myself, but I'm still looking for someone to go with me."