Written by Rosemary Cummings
Photographs supplied by Nastasha Nel
I’d noticed the thin black cat while I was feeding my kitty and the stray that lives in our back garden. It was sitting outside the house opposite mine in Bothasig around about the end of December last year. The cat would run away when I called it, but I could see it was hungry. I began to leave little portions of food out for him across the road, but he’d run away as I came closer.
He ate the food
Eventually, one evening, as I was bending down to put food out for my kitty, he ran across the road and came towards me. I called him and he ate the food that I’d put out but didn’t let me touch him. This continued for a few evenings until one evening, as I reached out, he came nearer and allowed me to stroke his ears.
Each evening after that I’d put food out in the same place. He’d come and eat, let me stroke him and then disappear, until one day he appeared in the front garden in the morning and went to sleep under the bushes.
I fed him in the evening and he stayed at our house from then onwards. Eventually, he made his way into my room where he’d sleep either on my bed or on my office chair. Timmy (as I now know him) really made himself at home and he became like one of the family.
He seemed ferociously hungry and I wondered if he needed deworming, so I mentioned this to my daughter who’d seen Capetonians Against Animal Abuse’s Facebook Page about being able to help people who fed feral cats. We contacted her and she kindly agreed to lend me a trap (although by that time Timmy was tame enough to be placed in a cat basket) and she collected him one morning and said he’d be tested and then sterilised if necessary.
A few hours later, I received a call to say the vet had checked him and had found that he was microchipped. They’d been able to trace his owners, who’d come to collect him.
I was overjoyed that Timmy had been reunited with his “Mommy” but also sad, because we’d become very attached to him over the few months that he’d stayed with us. I asked his Mom to whisper in his ear that we’d always love him, we missed him, and we’d never forget him.
Debbie Rebelo, receptionist at Joostenberg Animal Clinic, shares…
Timmy had gone missing from a cattery at the end of November last year. His owners were devastated and spent days looking for their lost boy.
When Timmy came out of anaesthetic, he was very quiet. He sat right in the back of the cage and didn’t make eye contact with anyone. But everything changed when his parents arrived to fetch him. He heard their voices and moved to the front of the cage and was very animated. When he saw their faces, he couldn’t wait to get out of the cage and into their arms. We were all in tears at this very special reunion.
Thanks to Rosemary, who cared enough to feed him and ask for help, Timmy is home again!
It’s a happy ending to what could have been a sad story. Microchip your pets and make sure all your details are up to date.
Timmy’s Dramatic Return
Written by Nastasha Nel
In November 2024, my husband and I started packing to move to our forever home. Granted, this was just 70m down the road from where we were residing at that time, but we were worried about the stress it would inflict upon our feline kids. Timmy, our male four-year-old black American Shorthair, and Sussie, our four-year-old Calico. Moving, even for a short distance, can be very stressful and we decided to try and make it as easy on them as possible and booked them into a cattery for a few days while we got everything sorted.
Within one hour of leaving them in Bothasig, we were informed that Timmy had escaped. Note, this wasn’t an error or mistake on the cattery’s part: he’s the world’s greatest escape artist and the cattery just wasn’t prepared for Houdini himself.
For weeks we’d drive to Bothasig from Brackenfell twice a day to look for Timmy, but we were just unable to find him. We knew he was microchipped, but his personality just wasn’t to go up to strangers and demand attention or pets. Our only hope was that someone would manage to trap him and take him to the nearest vet (we informed every vet within a 10km radius).
Week after week we started to lose hope. Black cats are very common in the area and we just couldn’t determine if he’d even stayed in the area or attempted to return home. Life went on, but we always felt something was missing. Sussie adapted quickly after the move, along with our Border Collie, but we still held a tiny bit of hope that Timmy would be found.
Both our cats are rescues from K9 & Bridgers, so when I received a call from Megan, with whom I’ve worked before, on the 18th of March 2025, I couldn’t believe the news. Timmy’s microchip had been scanned at Joostenberg Animal Clinic, and I could give them a call.
They informed me that Timmy was captured in Bothasig by an amazing organisation that captures and sterilises stray cats, and he arrived at their clinic that day. Much to their surprise, when they finally caught up to Timmy he was already sterilised and wasn’t a stray. He was in good condition and a lady in Bothasig had managed to calm him enough to feed him after his escape.
We collected him that afternoon and took the little troublemaker home. We kept him indoors for a few days, but that was the utmost form of torture for him. To clarify, Timmy has always preferred the outdoors. Even before his stint in Bothasig he’d prefer to be outside roaming the streets, only coming home for treats and confirmation of life.
He’s back in Brackenfell patrolling his territory and terrorising the village. If it wasn’t for his microchip, we’d never have gotten our furry baby back. He isn’t the most “loveable” cat, but he’s ours and we adore him. We couldn’t be more of an example of why microchipping your pet is so crucial. And to never lose hope, especially with cats. Ours went missing for four months, and if it wasn’t for so many people who do amazing work, we wouldn’t have had a positive outcome, and for that we’re so grateful.
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