Nicci was ‘devastated’ when her cat died. Then he turned up at her door

A pet owner has had the shock of a lifetime when her beloved cat padded through the cat flap four days after it was thought to have been cremated.

Nicci Knight, of North Yorkshire, was on holiday with her family in Turkey when neighbours broke the news they had found her cat, Ted, drowned in their pond.

“I had to break the news to my husband and our four children and we were all absolutely devastated, because Ted is a huge personality and a beloved member of the family,” she told BBC.

Knight put her grief aside to organise for Ted’s body to be collected and cremated.

However, four days later, Knight had several missed calls from her cat sitter, who had been looking after the family’s other cat.

Ted had just walked through the cat flap.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Knight said.

“I had to get her to FaceTime me live so that I could see that Ted was actually alive.”

It quickly dawned on Knight she had paid £130 ($A255) to cremate someone else’s cat.

When Knight went to collect the urn from Heavenly Pets Crematorium, she saw it had been labelled “not dead Ted”.

Heavenly Pets Crematorium director Vicki Crallan told the BBC it was “bittersweet” and she was worried there was a family out there missing their furry friend.

Knight said the family had not been able to track down the owner of the dead cat and believed it may be a stray.

Crallan said the crematorium would be donating the cremation fee to a local cat rescue centre.