Meet Toby

Despite Toby being mentioned in pretty much every single post I write here (exhibit A, exhibit B) and being brought up in more conversations then he probably should, I've never officially introduced him to you guys!

Totally shocker, right?

So lovely people, meet Toblerone Gizmo Beckham Dale aka Toby (sometimes known as Tobs, Tobbles, Tobias, Bunny and Mr Meowypants!)

This cheeky monkey came to us during the summer of 2010. We had just lost our beloved tabby Molly who was the sweetest little lady ever, once you got past the fact that she had such a hatred for anything that moved and/or made a noise (so yeah...everything!) that she would spend as much time outside as possible. Nothing personal or anything then!

Only pet owners will understand the sense of emptiness and hollowness in a house once a pet has died. I mean it's almost harrowing how disjointed everything feels when you are constantly look around expecting to see that little furry face staring back at you.

So yeah long story short, we needed a new cat in our life. And fast before I started to feel the full effects of cat deprivation.

This is where Toby comes in...well sort of!

Initially when we first set out on our kitten hunt, there was two things we wanted. The first being that it was a female and the second being that it wasn't tabby. So how the heck did we end up with a male tabby, I hear you ask?

Well, we saw an advertisement in the Yellow Pages for a litter of kitten (2 black, 2 tabby and 1 black and white) in Chelmsford. Upon arrival with our hearts set on the black and white lady, we were introduced to a kitten that had it been human would probably have been diagnosed with ADHD. I mean it was frickin' nutter, racing around the kitchen like it was Usan Bolt or something!

While our attention was on the black and white kitten, we failed to noticed that one of the cats had managed to get itself wedge tightly between the back of the fridge and the wall. That was until we heard the poor thing meowing it's head off. Somehow- I don't know how - it wiggled free and come trotting over to us with this look on it's little face like 'what are you talking about? that never just happened'. And we instantly fell in love.

Just like that.

The trouble was...it was not only a tabby but the male too! However, by then it was too late, we had already scooped him up and was ready to take him home. And as he was sleeping in his travel crate in the car, the name Toby just seemed to suit him perfectly.

So it stuck!

With all the joys you get from a new kitten like playing with a ratty piece of string for two hours at a time and inviting people around just to show them that he really does fit into the palm of your hand, you never expect something to go wrong.

I mean we should have guessed that this mischievous kitten who was first introduced to us from behind a fridge, would get into trouble somewhere down the line. But nope. We didn't think that for a second.So you can imagine our panic when only a few months after bring him home, he disappeared. For almost a whole week.

 I know they say that cats like to wander but this was so unlike him that my Cat Mumma Instincts told me something fishy was defo going on here.

I remember the day we found him like it was yesterday. I was out having lunch and I got a text from my mum which I initially brushed off as that over protective thing mum's do to check if you are eating and not just skipping lunch because you are too busy. But when I finally did read it, it turns out Toby, still a wee baby at this point, had been hit by a car and basically left on the side of the road to die. Some very lovely person had found him and taken him to their local vets, who thanks to the microchip on the back of his neck were able to contact us.

His collar had been ripped right off his neck in the accident.

The whole of the back of Toby's body was badly smashed up and he was not in a good way. At first it was touch and go as the whether he would have to have one of his back leg amputated as the vets didn't know if they would be able to repair such a badly broken leg or if he would even survive the night. But thankfully he pulled through.

Age was defo on his side this time as after about six months of being confined to a cage with a load of stitches and plaster on his lil' leg (which he hated so much and I hated putting him through) the bones fused back together beautifully.

We were told that he would have a permanent limp and be in chronic pain, but if you looked at Toby now you would never have guessed the things he has been through. He runs around like a lunatic, catches about a dozen mice a week and meows to high heaven for food even though you already fed him ten minutes ago. The little bugger doesn't even seem the least bit frighten of the road either!

Somethings never change.

Love Beth xx