Worthing man camps out in garden in desperate search for missing kitten

Ollie Bayley said his ten-month-old cat, Lily, was last seen at 11am on Saturday, May 27.

“I took Lily for a walk over to Brooklands Park – an area we’ve been walking together since she was four-months-old,” Ollie said.

"It was nothing out of the ordinary for us. I would let her off her lead and she always followed me tail in the air and loved a good sniff and a climb up a tree.”

Ollie said Lily ran into the long grass at the old golf course, after being frightened by a loud noise – and she hasn’t been seen since.

Since then, Ollie set up a camp in his back garden for three days and has ‘walked miles looking for her’.

He said: “I was camping in my old back garden for three nights with some old clothes and food out for her. I was getting up every hour to shine a torch and then going back to sleep. I hoped she would pick up my scent and come to me.

"After three nights, I was just exhausted and needed to get back to work [at World of Books in Goring-by-Sea]. It seems she’s getting a bit of a large social media following. Everywhere I go, I am meeting people asking if I have found her.

"She looks like every generic Felix cat but I’d know in a heartbeat if I saw her.”

Cat lover Ollie – whose previous feline had to be put down after 15-years, has owned Lily since she was seven-weeks-old, adding: “We’ve formed an incredibly close bond. I’ve got ADHD and I suffer from anxiety.

"She’s one of the only things that can calm me down. I’m just lost without her. Without her I’m broken.

"Lily was and is my comfort blanket when things get too much. I’m beyond worried.

“I live alone. If I’m not at work, I’m out looking for her. Otherwise I’m just trying to get some rest.”

Ollie said he is now in the process of ‘speaking to some pet detectives’ and ‘setting up cameras’.

He is asking people in the local area to keep an eye out for Lily, describing her as a ‘small, black and white kitten’.

"She’s three quarters the size of a normal cat,” Ollie said. “She’s a small, slight kitten.

"She has a scratch on the back of her left paw.”

If you see Lily, please call Ollie on 077321 04108 or Cats Protection on 01903 200332, extension 3.

Have you read?: Plans revealed for huge new park in Worthing – including large play area for all ages and three junior football pitches

Worthing holiday company proud supporters of the LGBTQ+ community

Greenpeace volunteers meet on Worthing seafront as part of global protest against deep sea mining