A pet owner who tracked his cat with a GPS collar was startled when the family’s newest moggy followed its exact footprints – months after the first passed away.
Dad-of-two Dave Evans’s new cat Spike not only looks a spitting image of his family’s previous cat Yollo, he also goes on identical hunting trips.
And the similarities became spookier when Dave, 46, discovered Spike was born on the SAME DAY Yollo died after he was hit by a car in January.
Yollo hit headlines in March 2013 after self-confessed gadget nerd Dave attached a GPS ‘cat nav’ to his collar, giving a fascinating insight into the kitty’s adventures around Marlborough, Wilts..
He decided to fit a similar collar onto Spike and noticed striking similarities – because they wander the same routes.
Dave said: “As a younger cat I didn’t expect Spike to wander that far but what I found was not only fascinating, it was actually quite spooky.
“Spike’s night-time journeys were exactly the same as Yollo’s.
“Both where he went and when he made the trips matched up practically to the metre, where he hunted, knowing where there may be some extra food to be left out etc.”
GPS maps of both cats’ hunting habits reveal eerie similarities between their journeys around the fields surrounding Dave’s house in Marlborough, Wilts.
They both start their day at the family home then appear to make near-identical trips before their return.
And when Dave contacted the breeder who gave Spike to the family, she revealed he was probably born on the same day Yollo died.
Dave said the family got Spike, who is now nine months old, as a kitten and he has grown up to be strikingly similar to Yollo.
He said: “Yollo was the most patient and cuddly cat a family could ever want and so we thought we’d get another of the same breed.
“As a kitten, Spike looked a bit like Yollo, but as he grew he became the spitting image of him.”
He added: “The breed itself is a really friendly breed and because we have got two young kids and Yollo was so good we wanted the same breed.
“We had to keep Spike in for the first few months but as soon as he was allowed out I put the GPS tracker on him.
“It is a bit eerie. They both go down to the river, they both like the river – most cats don’t hang around rivers.
“It’s pretty spooky to be fair and they look so similar and act so similar.”
Dave had started to track Yollo in 2013 after noticing the cat was gaining weight despite being fed less.
He developed a super-light GPS collar for the pet which logged his adventures using Google Maps.
Dave said: “I’m not a superstitious person but this is just too strange.
“Spike has fitted into the family home so well I’m beginning to wonder if he’s been here before?”
