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Lost Cat Reunited With Owner After 10 Years

(CBS) -- A cat has been reunited with his family 10 years after he vanished.

It's all because of some dedicated cat-loving volunteers and modern technology.

CBS 2's Jim Williams reports.

Oliver was two years old when he got out of his family's home in northwest suburban Lake Zurich.

Oliver The Cat Returns
Laura Kleban was 17 when her cat, Ollie, vanished a decade ago. They were reunited Monday. (CBS)

The family thought poor Oliver had been hit by a car.

But stories about Oliver's demise were premature.

On Saturday night, Kim Vonesh and other volunteers who trap cats so they can be neutered and released, saw a security guard feeding Oliver and other cats.

"Six years she's been feeding him," Vonesh says.

Did we say this was in Chicago's River North neighborhood? That's 37 miles from Lake Zurich.

"How does that happen?" Vonesh says.

Oliver The Cat Returns
A tabby known as Oliver went missing for 10 years -- until this past weekend. (CBS)

The volunteers got the cats to the PAWS Chicago animal shelter, where folks there found Oliver had a microchip -– and a family.

On Monday night, Laura Kleban – who was 17 when Oliver vanished -- saw her cat for the first time in a decade.

"You're just as big as I remember," Kleban told the cat.

Vonesh and the other volunteers emphasize pet owners should make sure their dogs and cats have microchips, even if they're inside pets.

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