Virginia (USA) - What began with a long search ended for Mackenzie Peterson from the US state of Virginia in a moment that she will always remember. She had been searching for her missing cat Set for 24 days before she finally found him - but the reunion turned out differently than she had hoped.

Set the cat had escaped through the dog flap during the chaos of a house move. "Even the 20-minute drive from one house to another was very stressful for him," Peterson told Newsweek.

When he disappeared, a nerve-wracking search began with posters, neighborhood help and countless false sightings.

Then the turning point: A phone call led Peterson to a street behind her house where Set had been spotted. At a careful distance, she filmed the weakened, limping cat - the recording later went viral on TikTok .

She didn't want to get too close so as not to scare the frightened animal , but before she knew it, Set had disappeared again.

The senior cat has been away from home for over a month now, but despite the setback, Peterson isn't giving up.

"Maybe I'm the crazy cat lady, but he's been a part of my life for so long," explained the devastated cat mom. She adopted him from an animal shelter 13 years ago.