RACINE - Thanks to modern technology, a long-lost cat was reunited with his owner Wednesday after going missing for four years.

The cat, a large black male, was reported recently as a stray in Mount Pleasant. An agent with Countryside Humane Society in Racine went out and picked the cat up.

The cat's given name was Sebastian before he went on the lam.

"We scanned him for a micro chip and found one," said Maggie Senzig, rescue coordinator for the Countryside Humane Society, which tracked the chip number to the owner. "When we called the owner she could not believe it."

According to the information on the chip, Sebastian belonged to a woman named Malinda, who lives near Lake Geneva, Wis. She did not give the shelter permission for her last name to be released.

According to the shelter, Malinda lost track of Sebastian when he was a 7-month-old kitten.

Sebastian and Malinda were reunited Wednesday afternoon at the shelter, 2706 Chicory Road, and Malinda was all smiles as she picked up her long-lost cat.

Senzig said Sebastian appeared to be healthy and had no injuries, and it's possible he was someone's pet before being found as a stray.

The shelter reminded pet owners that such chips are available for pets for a minimal fee.

"Today a happy owner and a happy cat are thankful that a microchip was implanted into Sebastian and, even after all this time, the chip is the reason he made it home," Senzig said.