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Tilly is a little cat that has used up most of her nine lives – her most recent life-threatening adventure involved finding her way from Gulf Harbour to Albany.
Tilly had a hard life until Kim Fiehn adopted her from the SPCA. Tilly, who is deaf and has a limp, found a loving home with Kim’s mother, Ulli Fiehn of Kohimaramara, after Kim went overseas.
Because Ulli travels a lot for work, Tilly went to stay in Gulf Harbour with Ulli’s ex-husband towards the end of last year.
Spooked by a dog, she took off just before Christmas and Ulli left no stone unturned in trying to find her beloved pet. She searched online and visited the Hibiscus Coast regularly over summer, cycling around and looking as well as putting up posters and talking with residents.
“It was eating us up,” Ulli says. “It was hard to concentrate on anything else while she was missing.”
Almost a month after the cat left Gulf Harbour, she was found at Kawai Purapura Retreat Centre (not far from the Albany park and ride) with large infected bite marks.
People at the retreat had been looking after Tilly and eventually contacted Tracey Hammond of local cat rescue service Gutter Kitties. A scan of her microchip soon had her back in Ulli’s hands.
Tracey says the happy end to Tilly’s story highlights the value of microchipping pets. “Microchipping and registering pets on the national database ensures a fast return once someone scans a pet,” Tracey says. “It doesn’t take long, or cost much and can save a lot of worry or heartbreak.”
