A family took a trip 530 miles from their home to an RSPCA rehoming centre to adopt an undesirable black cat who had actually waited over 230 days in rescue.
Debbie Hughes, her other half Steve and their teenage child Lydia took a trip from Oxshott in Surrey to Great Ayton in North Yorkshire – a big salami of almost 530 miles – to adopt Eddie who had just had one rehoming query in 8 months.
The two-year-old cat had actually gotten to the Yarm Lane centre with a severe infection in both ears and had actually been nursed back to health by staff after being rescued by an RSPCA officer from a shed in the Stockton-on-Tees location in September in 2015.
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But in spite of his caring and easy-going character, rehoming queries were scarce, triggering the centre to put out an unique appeal for him back in May.
Debbie and her family was among numerous individuals from all over the nation who checked out Eddie’s predicament and stepped forward to provide him a permanently home.
Their previous cat, Sylvester, had actually died in 2015 and they had not yet felt prepared to invite another cat into their home.
Eddie the cat (Image: RSPCA)
“We read about Eddie and his story really pulled on our heartstrings,” said Mrs Hughes.
“I really wanted to give him a happy life and a nice home. We thought we met the criteria, so we put in an application and it all went from there. We didn’t really think about the distance we’d have to travel to adopt him, we just knew we wanted him!”
The family took a trip 530 miles to adopt Eddie (Image: RSPCA)
Eddie has actually invested the last 8 weeks settling into his brand-new home after the family triggered at 5.30am to make the journey to North Yorkshire.
“We said we had come for Eddie and I think the staff still couldn’t quite believe it,” added Mrs Hughes.
“We spent about 20 minutes playing with him and getting to know him, but straight away we were smitten.
Eddie had been at RSPCA in Great Ayton for over 200 days (Image: RSPCA)
“He meowed a little bit to start with as we set off, but my daughter was sitting in the back with him, and she’s brilliant with cats, and he soon relaxed and fell asleep for most of the journey.
“It was a great day bringing him home. He’s met our two older sons and lots of other family members and he’s settled in really well. He’s a very affectionate cat who loves to play and be close to people and we’re so pleased we found him.”
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Staff at Great Ayton believe Eddie’s colour had actually been putting individuals off embracing him – with black, or black and white cats, typically taking far longer to rehome than their vibrant equivalents.
Beverely Dunn, cattery manager at the centre, said: “We’re over the moon that Debbie and her family, who lived so far away, were committed enough to come and meet Eddie and offer him his forever home after he’d been with us for such a long time.
“We were overwhelmed by the interest we had in him after we put out the appeal, and it just goes to show that the right home is always out there – even if it’s not always on your doorstep!”
