After more than a month without a trace, distraught Lorraine Cook feared she would never see her beloved moggy again.

But the mum-of-two is celebrating today after ten-year-old Tamba finally returned home after spending the last FIVE weeks trapped in a neighbour’s summerhouse.

Miss Cook, of Craig Close, first realised something was wrong on Valentine’s Day when Tamba failed to return home in the evening and she said the cat’s return was nothing short of miraculous.

“I have no idea how she managed to survive that long,” said the 41-year-old, “we’re amazed.”

She said it was still a mystery how Tamba managed to survive and how she managed to get into the summerhouse in the first place.

The summerhouse has a cat flap and she believes it is possible Tamba could have gone through it and then it locked behind her so she could not get out – leaving her to fend for herself.

One of the theories as to how the family pet survived is that she licked the condensation off the windows.

Miss Cook added: “We started to give up hope because we were thinking if she was shut in somewhere, she wouldn’t survive.

“She was really skinny and when she got back we took her to the vets but she seemed to be OK.

“I personally think she either went in when the door was open or she went in through the cat flap.

“She must be using up all her nine lives – I honestly don’t know how she managed to survive for so long without food.

“I would imagine she maybe licked condensation off the windows.”

Tamba returned home on March 19 after Miss Cook’s neighbour saw her in the summerhouse. The neighbour waited at Miss Cook’s home until she returned home to give her the good news.

After returning home Tamba has been subjected to plenty of fuss as Miss Cook and her two daughters Dorothy, 13 and Florence, 12, welcome their miracle cat back home.

? Has your pet returned after being lost for weeks? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail starletters@archant.co.uk