Hillsborough's pitch-invading cat had been missing for EIGHT months

The nation had been left horrified by West Ham defender Kurt Zouma's treatment of his pet, so the tale of what happened at Hillsborough a day after that shocking video emerged was welcome.

Barry Bannan's first half goal led the play-off-seeking Owls to victory over promotion candidates Wigan Athletic by a whisker, leaving the second place Latics level with MK Dons.

But it wasn't just Sheffield Wednesday's victory over the high-flying Tics that raised eyebrows.

A cat suddenly appeared on the pitch, with Wigan substitute Jason Kerr coming to its rescue.

Despite the Wigan man facing the prospect of his side losing ground on automatic promotion, he put the animal's needs first, showing there's never any excuse to not show animals love and compassion.

To make any already heart-warming moment even cosier, it has now been reported that the cat - called Topsey, a she - was in fact missing for EIGHT MONTHS, and had even been presumed dead by the family she belonged to.

They have since been reunited, with Wednesday confirming Topsey had been taken to a nearby vet after being scooped from the pitch, where she 'was treated for a head injury and bite to the neck, received pain relief, antibiotics and is now eating food'.

Topsey's owner, Alison Jubb, told the BBC: "She went missing last June. We were going away and I was taking her to a cattery and she escaped out of the cat box and we never heard anything again.

"My daughter-in-law rang me last night as they were watching the match and said there was a cat on the football pitch. I sort of laughed it off."

Ms Jubb, who lives 2.5 miles from Hillsborough in Worrall, said she only believed it was her long lost furry companion when the vets, who had taken Topsey after she made her debut at Hillsborough, called her.

"That was the first time I realised it really was her," she said.