My daughter and I have been to Kefalonia many times, always staying in Skala at the same hotel. This was our 6th visit and first holiday after the pandemic(we almost booked a different Greek island, just to try somewhere new!)

We were really surprised to see so many street cats this year, many more than previous years. We’d joked before going on the holiday about finding a street cat to bring home but already having 2 cats at home, didn’t think it would be possible.

We hadn’t been able to stay at our usual hotel in Skala this time, so found somewhere just on the outskirts of the village. We met Bob on the busy road outside of our apartments. He was a skinny, scruffy and quite dirty white with tabby cat that meowed and came over to us asking for food with another tabby girl, who was very timid. We quickly started to carry an extra bottle of water to top up bowls when we passed and some dry cat biscuits. Bob started to meet us at the same spot on “his road” each evening and began following us back to our apartment, none of the other street cats we’d met before had followed us, so we were impressed by his confidence. We were a bit wary to let him into the apartment at first but he was very friendly, so he came in for some water, cat biscuits and to cool off in the air con.

He stayed overnight with us a few times and began to play in the apartment with the edge of a bed sheet or a ball made from screwed up paper. He even got up onto the bed and slept by my feet for a while (I did have a quick look in his fur for fleas and didn’t see any). We’d met many street cats, most of whom would let us smooth them, but Bob was the most affectionate cat we’d ever met. He let me pick him up to carry him over a busy road, although he was pretty good at waiting for traffic to pass and he let us brush his fur and bathe him, whilst he ate biscuits on the edge of the shower, to get some of the dust off of him. After that I couldn’t bear to leave him behind. I contacted a local charity about 3 days before we were due to leave and said he was in our apartment, what should I do?  We borrowed a cat carrier from a local lady who fed and checked the street cats and took Bob in a taxi to Argostoli to see a vet for a check up and start the process of adoption. The process was really easy, just a visit to a couple of offices in Argostoli to have documents filled in and stamped. Bob then went to stay in a “cat hotel” to quarantine and make sure his vaccines had worked before travelling to England. We had regular photos and videos of him during his stay and eventually he arrived in England. He’s settled in very well and gets on OK with our existing cats. He’s very healthy, put on weight and his fur is now incredibly soft and silky and white. We are so thankful we met him and got to bring him home and that the process was made very easy.

Many thanks,

Lois & Bonnie