Happy Gotcha Day Tolly!

otto

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Today marks 11 years since Tolly found me. Many of you may have read the story before, but I must post it anyway. So don't feel obligated,

It was a dark and stormy night. Pouring rain. I was working in a house with three small children and a dog. We were in the kitchen and I was performing "dinner theater" for the entertainment of the children (I work with special needs children) dancing and singing, to distract them from the violent storm raging outside. Suddenly I heard this loud wailing meow, and the dog went crazy barking and jumping at the door.

I went outside and stood on the stoop but didn't see anything. I went back inside, and as soon as I shut the door, again heard this loud plaintive meow, and of course the dog went berserk again. This time I shut the dog in the bathroom (on the other side of the house) and stepped outside, off the porch. I stood in the pouring rain and called "kitty kitty kitty" as loud as I could. I really couldn't see a thing, it was a miserable night.

Suddenly I felt something climbing up me, and there was this tiny kitten clinging to me, just under my chin. I didn't take the time to look him over, I couldn't bring him in that house, nor could I leave the children for long, so I put him in my car, arranging the car blanket on the floor of the back seat, hoping the kitten would use it as a warm snuggly nest to sleep in and be warm until I left for home.

When I finally got in my car to go home, I found the little baby curled up in the driver's seat (my seat). He had used the blanket nest as his litter box, leaving me a little "present". (and is still just as fastidious) I lifted him off the seat and placed him on my lap, and he rode home, still curled up, like that.

When I got him home I discovered that he was just a tiny scrap of red fur. I got him to the vet the next day, and the vet felt he was about 5 weeks old, he had pneumonia, chlamydia eye infection, ear mites, and so on. He weighed only one pound. It was touch and go for a few days, but he rallied and responded to my loving care.

Ootay (rb5/09) and Bibbs(rb3/05) who were 8 at the time, took him under their wings and loved him.

His full name is Tolly Sweet Pea. He is just the sweetest cat I have ever met. He is also known as Nurse Tolly, as he comforts and nurses anyone sick (human or feline) and fusses over any cat who comes home smelling like vet. Tolly is 11 years old, has a seizure disorder, herpes eyes and liver damage. He takes phenobarbital twice a day, denosyl once a day and l-lysine once a day. There were times I thought I would lose him but with the help of Cornell University Companion Animals Hospital, he is still with me and thriving. The Joy of my Life.

Happy Gotcha Day my beautiful Tolly boy, my Sweetest Sweet Pea.

I love you.
 

Winchester

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That is a beautiful story! I'm so glad he found you....and I know he is, too!

Happy Gotcha Day, you precious little boy!
 

larussa

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Happy Gotcha Day Tolly and what a wonderful little fella you are. So glad your meowmie found you when she did and you have had a wonderful loving home. I hope you have many more gotcha days and conquer your illnesses. You're a beautiful boy.
 

at129

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Awww, happy Gotcha Day sweet boy! Tolly is such a handsome, sweet fellow, give him a hug for me!

Have to admit, it was a little weird to read this - not only do he and Sophie share a "Gotcha Day," but she was a 5-week-old, 1-lb lost baby who lured me in with little kitten cries as well! There must be something about Sept 16th...
 

carolina

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otto, he was meant to be yours, and no one else's.... The way he climbed onto you... That is just something!
He is as beautiful as his life story!

Happy gotcha day you special handsome little man!
 

mrsgreenjeens

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What a wonderful story for a wonderful boy.

Happy Gotcha Day, Tolly Sweet Pea!
 
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otto

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Originally Posted by Winchester

That is a beautiful story! I'm so glad he found you....and I know he is, too!

Happy Gotcha Day, you precious little boy!
Thank you! Tolly is the joy of my life and has added more white hairs to my head and worry lines to my face than all my other cats, past and present, put together. And worth every hair and line, too.

Originally Posted by CATTYBIRD

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY Tolly!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Awww! Happy Birthday Tolly!
Thank you! (not his birthday, but his Gotcha Day, but he accepts the sentiment anyway)

Originally Posted by CoolCat


Happpppy Gotcha-day!!!!



...
...
....

Many Happy Returns!!!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by Kailie

Happy gotcha day handsome orange boy! What a great story!
Thank you! Tolly says thank you for the well wishes but he must clarify that he is not an orange boy, he is a Red Boy.
 
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otto

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Originally Posted by -_aj_-

Amazing story! Happy gotch day Tolly
Thank you! I love the story too. I'll never forget it.

Originally Posted by LaRussa

Happy Gotcha Day Tolly and what a wonderful little fella you are. So glad your meowmie found you when she did and you have had a wonderful loving home. I hope you have many more gotcha days and conquer your illnesses. You're a beautiful boy.
Thank you! Tolly is just so sweet, I can't get enough of him!

Originally Posted by at129

Awww, happy Gotcha Day sweet boy! Tolly is such a handsome, sweet fellow, give him a hug for me!

Have to admit, it was a little weird to read this - not only do he and Sophie share a "Gotcha Day," but she was a 5-week-old, 1-lb lost baby who lured me in with little kitten cries as well! There must be something about Sept 16th...
Yes, I noticed that too, when I replied in Sophie Ann's thread. And it was a Thursday, too, on Tolly's day, so he's really come full circle now. He and Queen Eva are sort of Sophie Ann and Jack in reverse.


Originally Posted by Carolina

otto, he was meant to be yours, and no one else's.... The way he climbed onto you... That is just something!
He is as beautiful as his life story!

Happy gotcha day you special handsome little man!
Thank you Carolina. Yes, it absolutely was meant to be. I used to think he was given to me to give me something to focus on when I quit smoking (my quit date was for two days after he found me) but when his rare seizures started at age 3, I realized I was given to him as the one person in the environs he was born in (farming community over there by that house) who would have kept him inside from day one, and recognized the seizures for what they were.

Originally Posted by CruiserMaiden

Happy Gotcha Day Tolly!
Thank you!
 
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otto

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Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens

What a wonderful story for a wonderful boy.

Happy Gotcha Day, Tolly Sweet Pea!
Thank you! I get tears in my eyes thinking of it.

Originally Posted by DarkMavis

Happy Gotcha Day Tolly!! May you celebrate many many more!
Thank you! I hope so, he's doing so well again, now.

Originally Posted by sharky

Happy Gotcha Day Tolly!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by LDG

SUCH a sweet story!


Happy Gotcha Day Tolly Sweet Pea! (I love his full name!!!!!!)
Thank you! Yes, I love it too. It took Tolly almost a week to let me know what his name was. Sweet Pea came a bit later, but not sure exactly when, it surely is descriptive of my Sweet Red Boy.
 
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