EPILEPTIC and prone to seizures, poor old Pup the cat has been through a tough time over the past few years.

His various illnesses, which means he walks with his head tilted to one side, have left vets baffled as they try to discover exactly what’s wrong with the nine-year-old tom.

His owner Liz Smith, who has dedicated her life to looking after him, has forked out thousands of pounds on surgery, while the feline has also cost Liz her job and a relationship as she battles to nurse the kitty.

Liz’s latest step to help Pup, who is on two tablets a day, was to move to a larger home in Old Rectory Drive, Hatfield.

Three weeks in after the relocation from the Woodhall area and disaster struck; Pup disappeared.

Frantic Liz, who is seven months pregnant, said: “It was only his third night out.

“I guess he must have had a fit and got confused as to where he was and then got lost.

“I last saw him on Monday morning.

“And he last had his medication on Sunday evening.”

A huge cat hunt followed, with traps and 3,000 flyers being posted up across Times Territory by a team of paid helpers.

Liz was waking up every three hours to search for Pup and finally on Saturday her persistence paid off, when she was alerted to a short haired, black cat in the neighbourhood.

As she arrived she called out Pup’s name and by “one-in-a-million chance” the pussy appeared.

“It means everything to get him back.

“It was amazing to see how much support I got from the people around here, I was texting people I don’t even know to let them know that he is ok, just a little bit skinny. So it’s fantastic news.”

The only downside now is that Liz is laid up in bed after Pup “put up a fight” when she was putting him in the car.

He scratched and bit her hand so hard that Liz was forced to visit A&E and is now on antibiotics.

But Liz admits the pain was worth it.

“The main thing is he is back. I couldn’t afford to let go of him, otherwise he could have escaped again.”