When Megan Conroy was 16, her beloved cat, Zeppelin, went missing. The family suspected he had been stolen from their front yard, since he was one of several black cats in his neighborhood that had recently disappeared.

Nonetheless, the heartbroken teenager and her mother, Linda Conroy, spent months looking for him, “going to the shelter and whatnot,” she said. “But after a while we just gave up.”

But a couple of weeks ago, Linda, got a surprise. She was looking out of a bedroom window when she spied a black cat walking down the street — and she knew it had to be Zeppelin.

He just came right across the street and came right between our two cars into our garage. And just started eating, said Linda.

She called her daughter, Megan, now 23, who couldnt believe the news.

My mom … had a panicky sound in her voice, so I thought something was wrong, Megan said. Then she said I wouldn’t believe this, but that Zeppelin had come right up to her and gone right into the garage where he knew exactly where the food was. One of the other cats we had raised with him remembered him, too.”

When Megan returned home the next day, the cat was still in the garage. At first she wasn’t sure it was Zeppelin, but when she saw the two white spots on his underside, she knew she was looking at her long-lost feline friend.

When me and my mom saw those, we almost started crying, Megan said. “I couldnt believe he was back after all that time.”

The next day, the Conroys took him to the vet for a checkup and vaccinations. Amazingly, after the cat’s six-year journey, his only issues were ear mites and a bald spot on his neck, likely caused by an abscess that had ruptured and healed.

The only other problem was that he was purring so loud, they couldn’t hear his heartbeat, Megan said.

Now that Zeppelin is back home, he’s going to have to get used to his new lifestyle. Hes a strictly indoor cat now. Hes not going to go outside. We dont want to have that happen again, said Megan.

But the cat doesn’t seem to mind at all.

He comes in my room and hops up in my lap just like he used to. It’s so good to have him home. We never thought we’d see him again. He keeps tilting his head at us like he’s really curious, and he follows everyone around the house, Megan said.

He wants to just be loved. Like he was when he left, said Linda. I think hes a miracle. Its just a blessing he came home.

As for Megan, she’s delighted that Zeppelin has returned. I’m sad that we missed out on six years of his life, but he was only one when he got stolen, so maybe he’ll live a really long life,” she said.

[Sources: Nevada Appeal and KOLO-TV]