Sneakers the cat is being reunited with his owner, hundreds of miles away from where she disappeared in 1996.

The long-haired black cat was given to Sacramento's Animal Care Services last week, where an employee scanned him for a microchip, a routine procedure.

The number on the chip was used to track down Allison MacEwan of Seattle, who said she placed newspaper ads and went door-to-door with fliers in a futile search for her lost cat a decade ago.

The Associated Press said the officials aren't sure how the cat wound up in Sacramento.

The owner is now looking forward to being reunited with her childhood pet. She was 4 when the cat disappeared.