A pet owner is desperate to find her missing cat so she can visit her ill father in Scotland before Christmas.

Isla Hay, of Wandle Road, wants to find Otto before going to Edinburgh to see her dad who is in hospital.

Otto, a maine coon cross, was last seen on November 17 when he didn’t come into his owner’s house at 9pm.

She said: “It’s now cold and there’s been no sightings, no evidence of anything, so I suspect someone has kindly taken him in and is feeding him. But I really want him back, and in the backdrop of all this going on my father has been taken into hospital in Edinburgh.

“He needs me there and when I spoke to him on the phone last night he said, ‘You will be home for Christmas won’t you?’ and I said ‘Yes, yes, of course’.

“But the reality is that if Otto is not back then I won’t be going up to Edinburgh for Christmas. Which means my mother, who is 79, will also be on her own in Edinburgh and she needs me for support.

“When the roles change and you become more of a carer than you are the child, you are there to sort things and make things as better as you can for them.

“I can’t do that if I’m stuck in London.”

Andrew became ‘seriously ill’ before Christmas last year and was later admitted into the Royal Infirmary.

During his ten-week Ms Hay said he came down with norovirus and became 'bed-locked', meaning care could not be provided for him to go home.

Ms Hay says she has seen a ‘massive deterioration’ in his health after collapsing multiple times.

She added: “My mother visits him every afternoon, but she’s 79 and she doesn’t like driving at night. So friends will go in the evening.

“He knew last night and he said, ‘Is Otto not back yet?’, which is a good sign insofar as sometimes he gets terribly confused but he knows this is going on.

“Quite often forgets he’s eaten or forgets what day it is, his brain is shrinking and he’s deteriorating quite quickly.

“If I was there I could work from home in Edinburgh, I could be there to help, and I can’t.”

Ms Hay says Otto is chipped and neutered, but wants him back so she can visit her father in Edinburgh before Christmas.

There is currently a £550 reward to find him, and anyone with information should contact: 07710 827 280