A family have been reunited with their pet cat 11 years after he went missing thanks to a tenacious stranger.

Carol O'Connell, who works at the Dutchess County SPCA (DCSPCA) in New York, noticed a stray cat coming to her house over a period of three years.

Maggie Welz had not seen her cat Tiger for 11 yearsDutchess County SPCA

She gradually won his trust and was eventually able to get close enough to pet him.

DCSPCA said on Facebook:

“On a whim, she borrowed a scanner from the shelter and discovered the cat was micro-chipped."

“With information from the chip we were able to locate the owner, and discovered the cat had been missing for 11 years!"

The shelter made contact with the owners of the cat, whose name is Tiger, and they have now been reunited.

The Welz family, who live just a few miles from the shelter, had not seen their pet since he went missing when he was three years old.

Maggie Welz told CBS New York:

“After months of effort he was never found, or no info provided, so this is crazy after 11 years."

Despite more than a decade apart, Tiger is settling back into his home as if he had never been away.

Mrs Welz said:

“Each night I've slept with him, he crawls right up on me and I just look at him and think I can't believe that you're home with us."