Holidaymakers spend £6k rescuing cat from Egypt - then it runs away

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A married couple have been left devastated after they spent £6,000 adopting a cat they rescued from Egypt, which has gone missing from their home in rural West Oxfordshire.

The Daily Mail reports that Railton and Dawn Elliot fell in love with the Egyptian cat after they realised he no longer had owners due to the country's civil unrest.

The couple were holidaying at the Red Sea resort of El Gouna in February 2011 and made friends with the cat, who they named Omar after Omar Sherif, before spending £6,000 to bring him back to the UK and getting him through quarantine.

When the couple offered the stray a quiet life in Oxfordshire, they thought it would be a welcome change for him, but were left heartbroken after the cat has gone missing from their home.

The pair, who run chocolate company Elliotts of Oxford, are offering a cash reward and a lifetime's supply of chocolate for anyone who can bring Omar home.

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'He has loved his new surroundings in the sleepy village of Combe, particularly the surrounding fields and woods where he could roam to his heart's content,' Mr Elliott told the Daily Mail.

'I've had cats all my life and never known one to be so gentle, so loving and tender.'

According to the Oxford Mail, Mr Elliott and his wife were practically alone at their resort when they met Omar, due to people fleeing the country.

He added: 'The holiday resort was huge but deserted, so we were upgraded to a villa right on the beach front. The next morning the most beautiful cat appeared.

'He had sought refuge in a bush immediately to the front of our villa and over the next few days we fed him three times a day with food we collected from the hotel buffet, and became great friends with our new chum whom we named Omar in homage to the great actor, Omar Sharif.'

At the end of their holiday, Railton and Dawn did not want to leave the cat to fend for itself so they approached their hotel manager and asked if they would adopt Omar if the couple paid the vet bills. The hotel manager declined so the couple arranged for someone to look after Omar temporarily before flying him to the UK.

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