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7-year-old cat who walked 12 miles to owners who gave him away finds forever family

RALEIGH, N.C. — A 7-year-old cat given away by his family walked 12 miles back home -- only to be given away again.

WRAL.com reported that, according to an April 4 Facebook post from the SPCA of Wake County, Toby, a fluffy orange and white cat, was given to another family but found his way back to his home.

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"When he arrived, he was met with heartbreak," the post said. "The family he thought had loved him took him to a shelter and asked staff to euthanize him. The shelter called us at the SPCA to ask if we could take him in and help him find a new family. Of course we said YES!"

When Toby's family no longer wanted him, they gave him to another family. But Toby missed them, and walked 12 miles back...

Posted by SPCA of Wake County on Wednesday, April 4, 2018

The animal shelter said it took Toby in from a county shelter at the end of February.

Toby was adopted by his new mom, Michele, on Friday the 13, SPCA of Wake County communications manager Tara Lynn said in a blog post.

Friends! WOW! Toby's story has been shared around the world! He was discarded by his first family and now truly has a...

Posted by SPCA of Wake County on Wednesday, April 18, 2018

"It's funny. He's very sweet, but he didn't get along with his (feline) roommate," Lynn told People Pets. "We thought he'd need to be adopted out as the only cat in a home, but his new family has two other cats and he's fine with them. He's just been through a lot and wasn't settled yet."

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Lynn told People that she wasn’t sure if Toby, who is FIV-positive, was given up by his family because of his disease, but it didn’t seem to impact interest from potential adopters.

“It’s cool, people were interested in him despite his FIV,” Lynn said.

Toby's life with his forever family is captured on his own Instagram page, a.cat.named.toby. The page has more than 15,000 followers and includes a post supporting the SPCA of Wake County's annual Dog Walk, which benefits all animals in the shelter.

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