This is the emotional moment a woman was reunited with her beloved pet cat after it went missing for four years.

Maggie DeGreenia, 27, finally found Tinsel - her cat who disappeared in December 2021 - after a cousin spotted her on a local shelter's website.

Maggie had spent weeks searching for Tinsel at the time, posting on Facebook groups, contacting shelters and putting up missing posters - only to eventually accept her beloved pet was gone.

But four years later, Maggie's cousin came across a picture of Tinsel on a shelter's site, leading to the tear-jerking reunion.

Maggie, a pre-school teacher from Lunenburg, Vermont, said: "I was in disbelief when I saw the photo and immediately broke down in tears. "

"I called the shelter, Riverside Rescue, as fast as I could, still in tears as I told them our story. "

"When I saw her, I was feeling so many emotions at once. "

Maggie adopted Tinsel in 2017 when she was just three months old.

The pre-school teacher said: "Tinsel came into my life after I graduated high school and right before I attended college 2017. "

"I had her four about four and a half years before she went missing."

Tinsel accidentally got let out of Maggie's home in late 2021.

Maggie reached out to shelters, posted on Facebook groups and went knocking on doors for weeks to try and find her.r.

She said: " We called local shelters for weeks, searched for her by car and by foot. "

"We asked neighbors if they had seen her, I posted in local Facebook community groups, missing pet pages, my own Facebook page and even put out some missing posters."

Maggie eventually accepted that Tinsel was gone and hoped that she'd been picked up by a family.

But one day, Maggie received a text from her cousin saying that she had seen Tinsel with her recognisable moustache on a local shelter page.

Magiie said: "She texted me 'Hey important, I think I found Tinsel. "

"She then sent me a photo of the adoption listing from the website. "

"I instantly texted my fiancé while he was working and he told me to go get our baby."

Tinsel immediately recognised her owner during the shelter reunion, pressing her forehead against Maggie's in a touching display of affection.

Maggie said: "She definitely remembered me."

"It was the most incredible feeling."

After four years apart, Tinsel is now back home with Maggie and her dog Rocco, gradually settling back into family life.

Maggie said: "It still feels like a dream."

It's understood that Tinsel had been picked up by people who looked after until December 2025 , when she was surrendered and soon after spotted by Maggie's cousin spotted her.