SKIP To THE HAPPY ENDING
How a kitten thrown out like a piece of rubbish proved the missing piece of vet’s family
As well as caring for other people’s animals, Peter Wright – whose exploits have delighted television viewers in recent times in Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet – is also a big animal lover himself and loves to talk about – and to! – his beloved cat, Toddy…
A case of perfect timing
I might be a Yorkshireman in my 60s but I’m not embarrassed to admit that when I’m alone, I even talk about the view to our one-year-old cat, Toddy, who’s often slinking around nearby.
He’s a fast-moving ball of energy and mischief – in turn delightful, irritating and even scary to watch; he was hit by a slow-moving delivery van recently and had some painful cuts to show for it. I much prefer to see him sleeping serenely on my wife Lin’s chest than climbing erratically up the curtains and over the work surfaces, but given his history, I’m just glad he’s alive and has a home – our home.
Toddy arrived at just the right time, not long after the deaths of our boxer dog Alf and RSPCA rescue cat Mary.
They died within three weeks of each other, the latest in a long line of beloved pets. Soon afterwards, a tiny kitten – a veritable bundle of fluff about four weeks old – appeared at the surgery. He’d been found mewing, hungry and helpless, in a nearby skip. This charming little fellow pawed at me through the cage bars and as I lifted him out, he snuggled up as if he belonged.
For Lin, it was love at first sight. Last Christmas, Toddy played around our tree and sometimes inside it. I lost count of how many times I had to reassemble the decorations and branches, but the minor hassle was worth it: the house was a home again.