Cleo the missing cat enjoys high life in spa hotel after mystery 90-mile journey

Cleo the cat went missing from her home in Much Wenlock in late November and owner Jodie Rhodes had all but given up hope on ever seeing her again.

However, last weekend Jodie got a call from a veterinary practice in Merthyr Tydfyll, south Wales, saying that Cleo had been found alive and well.

Jodie said: "What actually made me realise she was missing was when I saw a half-eaten mouse at the bottom of the garden.

"A neighbour of mine thinks Cleo was still in Much Wenlock for a few weeks, she is convinced she was seeing her around."

A few weeks prowling around the streets of the medieval market town didn't seem to do Cleo any harm, as she was already well built and is a good hunter in any case.

The next sighting of Cleo was at Nant Ddu Hotel and Spa in the Brecon Beacons, where workers looked after her before taking to her the nearby vets.

Jodie explained: "I got a call from a number I didn't recognise asking if I was Jodie, and if I had a cat called Cleo. They had obviously scanned her microchip and all my details came up.

"I said yes, do you know where she is? They said yes she's been handed in to Victoria veterinary practice.

"I nearly fell to the floor, I was just thinking how on earth has she travelled all that way to south Wales?"

Jodie immediately went on a four-and-a-half hour road trip to bring Cleo back home but is still puzzled as to how she travelled south.

The only theory the hotel staff came up with for how the feline explorer ended up on the other side of the Brecon Beacons is that she hitched a lift - or stowed away - in an ASDA delivery van.

Whether or not Cleo made the 90-mile trip on her own steam, or whether she was spirited there by some other means, she ended up being well looked after by hotel staff who left food out for her to try and gain her trust.

Jodie added: "I think she was well looked after and pampered there. I know she had lots of attention and fussing from all the staff. She spent the night in one of their rooms, and the night porter stayed with her so she wasn't alone.

"Now she is back with me she is very affectionate and never really leaves my side. I need to let her out sometimes but she always comes back, I think she just needs that bit of reassurance."

Cleo has been given a clean bill of health, so her winter journey didn't seem to harm her at all, but she seems more comfortable to be back at home.

Jodie added: "I am eternally grateful to the staff at Nant Ddu and the lovely vet Ruth. I would love to know how she managed to get all the way there, its just a shame she cant tell us."