Social media helped Missy's owners track her down after the Himalayan cat bolted when the car stopped at the Yass Service Centre on the Hume Highway.

Missy was in the car with owner Paul Leeves and his pet dog Pepper as the family made the move from Melbourne to Brisbane in late April.

His wife Pamela Leeves left the family's contact details with staff at the centre but their hopes of finding the cat again dwindled after a few weeks.

Missy was found, thin and dehydrated, at the centre on May 27.

She had a serious injury to her right eye, which had to be removed. Two of her teeth also had to be pulled out.

Her family's contact details had gone missing, so Yass Council ranger Sarah Barnes took Missy into care and nicknamed her "Hope".

Because Missy was not microchipped there was no easy way to reunite her with her owners. Her injuries suggested she could have been hit by a car.

Ms Barnes used the Yass Animal Shelter Facebook page to start an appeal to find Missy's owners and raised enough money to fund her treatment at Yass Valley Veterinary Hospital.

The story was also shared on the Facebook page of radio station 3AW Melbourne, owned by Fairfax Media, and was shared more than half a million times.

Missy was taken in by an ACT Rescue and Foster carer, who looked after her as she had her stitches out and began to eat again and put on weight.

In early July, Mrs Leeves stumbled upon the 3AW Melbourne story as she trawled the internet and got in touch with Ms Barnes.

Missy was microchipped and reunited with the Leeves family at their new home in Margate, Queensland, on July 12.

Mr Leeves told 3AW it was a relief to have the now one-eyed cat home after her ordeal.

"She's settling in quite well; there are a lot familiar items up here that she was sniffing around," he said.

"With the one eye it's a little bit difficult, she bumps into the odd thing every now and again but she's doing pretty well I reckon."