Rescuing Tilly

By Katherine Morten

Our family pet is a cat called Tilly (though there were many debates, I wanted to call her Blue). I absolutely love animals and have always wanted a cat or a dog, but my Dad is not the biggest furry animal fan. That is probably why we had Giant African Snails, but that is another story.

The day we got Tilly, I remember I was packing to go away for the weekend on a school trip. My Mum kept running in and out to help me. I stayed put, sorting through my checklist but I knew something was up, my Mum couldn’t keep a straight face.  I went next door into my nans house (best next door neighbour ever) and my mum and Nan were standing over my brother. He was sat down with the tiniest little kitten I had ever seen. She was under 4 weeks old and should not have been away from her mother.

On his way home my brother bumped into a girl he used to go to school with on the bus. She had a small shoe box on her lap with Tilly inside. My brother said what are you going to do with her and the girl said she wasn’t allowed to keep the kitten so was going to leave it at the side of the pavement (which is terrible). Lucky my brother was there, he said he would take care of the kitten and the girl handed the box over. After bringing her home safe, we realised there was a chance that she would not survive as she was so tiny and should not have been taken away from her mother so soon.

The first thing we did was ring the vet to ask what is best to do, the only advice they could give is set up a little home and keep her fed and warm. As I had to leave that night, all I could do was hope for the best. No one had informed me over the weekend if anything had happened to Tilly, but when I got home she was alive and well sleeping in her little bed. The love between a human and animal is a strong bond.

 After we got all her proper checks and injections she was free to come home, settle in properly and live a happy life. Although as I said before my Dad was not the biggest fan, he said he could not give her away to anyone else and that we could keep her. However, she does predominately live next door with my Nan but that is not a long trip to visit. We have had her for a few years now and she is still very small but feisty. When she wants to be she will curl up and nestle in your neck like the day she was rescued and others she just wants to play fight and bite your nose, toes and everything possible.

 Tilly came at the right time, as not long after the two cats that my Nan already had Toutsie and Sooty sadly died of cancer. They were 15 years old and lived a long life, but that does not make the loss of a pet any easier. Tilly really helped my Nan stay strong, and she was glad she had her around. Dealing with a loss is difficult, to read more on the subject, check out Kenna’s article on how to cope after losing your best friend. Check our our articles on dealing with pet loss for more. Click here.