FIVE years after she went missing from her Colorado home, Willow the cat has been reunited with her owners in New York City.

How the cat ended up on a Manhattan street 1,600 miles from home remains a mystery. She was dropped off at a shelter last week.

A microchip implanted when she was a kitten led to the Squires family in Boulder.

Chris and Jamie Squires and their three children were reacquainted with Willow at the Hilton New York hotel last night.

Mrs Squires says she hopes the unlikely reunion prompts more people to put microchips in their pets.