Refugee reunited with cat

Syrian refugee Moner Al Kadri, along with his wife Nadia, were forced to flee the bloodshed in their hometown of Damascus, Syria. But the two weren't going anywhere without their beloved cat.

Together, the two of them took the perilous week-long journey across the Mediterranean Sea to Lesbos in Greece, with their kitten Zaytouna, which means Olive in Arabic, the symbol of peace, in a sling around their necks, BuzzFeed reported.

Photographs emerged on social media soon after the pair's arrival in Lesbos and it quickly went viral online.

But things then took a turn a turn for the worse. Arriving at a refugee camp in Suhl, in eastern Germany, the kitten, BuzzFeed writes, was taken and placed in quarantine. As neither Al Kadri nor his wife are able to speak German he wasn't able to ask when, or if, they would see their beloved feline again.

"We do not have kids yet," Al Kadri told BuzzFeed News via WhatsApp in October. "We only have Zaytouna. We need to get her back."

Then the unthinkable happened.

Without warning, an animal shelter vet appeared on their front door step with a surprise, BuzzFeed writes – he had with him a three month older Zaytouna.

German authorities have a tendency to destroy animals brought to Europe from countries like Syria due to the risk of disease and infection. It is unclear why Zaytouna was spared.

While in quarantine, Zaytouna also reportedly received her own European pet passport – a sticking point for Moner, Nadia and the hundreds of thousands of other refugees who have made their way to Europe and are unable to gain the requisite paperwork needed for them to be granted official refugee status.

But, Moner Al Kadri and his wife's story is not unique, here are some other pets which have also made the perilous journey to Europe along with their kindhearted owners.