Updated

A worried owner finally found her cat who'd disappeared six months ago during one of northern California's most destructive wildfires -- and the animal turned up not far from their house.

Muscat hadn’t been seen since the Valley Fire forced residents to flee Middletown in September. His owner spotted the five-year-old cat a week ago.

Great story for you all: Our client Nancy found her cat on Thursday, March 23, after being missing since the Valley...

Posted by Middletown Animal Hospital: The Vets Your Pets Would Choose. on Tuesday, March 29, 2016

“On Thursday she was driving close to her house and saw a cat that looked like Muscat so she stopped and he came to her,” the Middletown Animal Hospital wrote on its Facebook page the other day.

“She was very excited to have him back,” the hospital’s Tersea Axthelm told KCBS-TV. “So many people are still looking for their pets, we have a bulletin board here, you know. Missing pets, dogs and cats. To give anybody some hope, it’s obviously a great thing.”

The Valley Fire killed four people, destroyed hundreds of homes and burned more than 76,000 acres—one of the worst wildfires in California history.