Okotoks, Canada - A woman was kind enough to bring an emaciated stray cat to the shelter run by Saving Animals Volunteer Endeavor (SAVE). When staff checked her microchip, they were confused – and then shocked.

It started with a bit of a false start when the team from Okotoks realized that the microchip wasn't registered, but one of the employees managed to find out that the chip belonged to the Calgary Humane Society.

Finally, one shelter contacted the other and was able to solve the mystery.

Shortly afterwards, everyone was speechless: the cat's name was Katherine, and she had been missing for eight long years!

As the animal shelter staff now also had the contact details of the former owner, they contacted her immediately.

The Canadian soon came by, and the team took the opportunity to film an emotional reunion video.

In the clip, the woman runs to Katherine, who immediately reacts to her by meowing urgently.

Relieved, the owner takes her pet into her arms. Shortly afterwards, tears of joy well up in her eyes.

"I knew you didn't die," she weeps.

At the time, the woman and her family did everything they could to find the lost cat, said Cheryl Brown, practice manager at SAVE, in an interview with Newsweek this week.

"Her family put posters up all over their community, searched extensively, and reached out to neighbors, but there were no sightings and no leads. Eventually, they had to accept that she was gone," Brown explained.

Fortunately, after all these years, there has now been a happy ending. Katherine is already living in her old home again.

For Brown, however, one thing is particularly important after this story: owners should have their animals chipped.