One furry Dunedin feline has put this old proverb to the test.
Three-year-old Buster the cat left his home in Waldronville one morning in September of 2019 only to reunite with his family three years later.
His owner Christina McBratney "still can’t quite believe that he is back".
"I remember him being quite delicate but now he’s a big chunky boy with an adult face," she said.
She awaited a call from local vets but never heard anything.
That was until she received a call that Buster had been brought in by his adopted owner.
Buster had found himself in the care of former general practitioner Dr Glynis Blackburn, at her farm in Brighton, in July of 2021.
Dr Blackburn said she found Buster, or Whitey as she had taken to calling him, crying on her doorstep one day.
He went on to live with her for 17 months of his three-year adventure.
Neither Mrs McBratney nor Dr Blackburn knew what Buster was doing the rest of the time.
Dr Blackburn "didn’t think for one minute" she would find the original owners.
She usually brought animals to her local vet in Mosgiel, but chose this time to bring him to the Green Island Veterinary Clinic to have his eyes examined.
The staff were familiar with the family recorded on Buster’s microchip as they had recently put down their family dog.
If she had not taken him to the Green Island vet, Dr Blackburn did not think Buster would have been reunited with his family.
"He is a real character of a cat, a real hardcase," she said.
Green Island Veterinary Nurse Kerri Gray said it was "pretty rare" for pets to be reunited with their owners after this long.
Microchipping was the best way to keep track of pets as collars and identity tags could be easily lost over time.
After being reunited with her beloved cat Mrs McBratney was reluctant to let him stray too far from home.
While he was "busting to get outside" she planned to keep him inside at night and let him roam during the day.
He was "super smoochy" upon returning home, she said.
