Ollie and Callie's story
Authored on: 29 March 2024
This is the story of two little rescue kittens, as told by their new family.
Tiny kitten found at at our wedding venue
On Wednesday 13th September 2023, we were at our wedding venue. We had decided to decorate the whole venue ourselves, so we were there from 10am. During that time, we heard a noise coming from the bar area. We had a nosey around as we were unsure about where the noise was coming from. After a look around the back of the bar, we kept hearing the noise again. We thought it was the pipes under the bar but my partner, Sam, said it sounds like a cat, I said it sounds more like a kitten. The noise stopped for a little while and about an hour later we had a meeting in the bar area with our wedding co-ordinator Holly. We told her about the noise we had heard and she said that they do get a few stray cats around the area from the local fields and farms. We then heard the noise again and she agreed it sounded like a cat. We carried on arranging our decorations and left around 5pm. Whilst packing up, another staff member came to the bar area to listen out for the noise. We didn’t hear it again and left the venue, not really thinking much of it.
We had our beautiful wedding on the Friday, surrounded by all our family and friends. The sun was shining and everything went exactly as we planned. We smiled and laughed all day and danced all evening. It was truly a magical day.
On Monday 18th September, I realised whilst sorting the decorations out at home that our personalised cake knife was missing. I phoned the venue to ask if it had been left behind in the kitchen. The lady said she would have a quick look around and call me back. Less than 5 minutes later, I had a phone call to say the knife had been found and was also asked if we were the couple who thought we had heard a kitten meowing. I said yes and she told me that a black and white kitten had been rescued on the Thursday from underneath the bar area. I asked if she knew where he or she had been taken, I was originally told the PDSA in Derby. I knew straight away I wanted to ring them and find out where the little kitten was. I rang Sam quickly and told him the story, he knew right away I was going to want to bring the little one home if possible. The PDSA informed us that they don’t take in animals and to try Derby RSPCA. I emailed them and got a quick response to say yes, the little kitten was in their care, and was being hand reared by a lady named Karen. I was also sent a video of the little kitten having a bottle. He was so tiny. I sat and had a chat with my mum and she said that if I was serious about adopting, then I would have to email my interest sooner rather than later in case somebody else showed interest first. I sent off our interest and sent the correct paperwork and photos. We asked if it would be possible to come and meet him too.
The first meeting
On Saturday 23rd September 2023, we came to RSPCA Derby to meet Karen and the little kitten. Our 6 year old daughter had been asking to have a kitten for over year but we kept saying not just yet and wait until after the wedding. We told her we were going to meet a little kitten but didn’t tell her we had already put in our interest of adopting him. We met the little one and had plenty of snuggles with him, he nuzzled into my chest and snuggled into my hair. We found out we had passed all the paperwork for adopting the kitten and found out he was definitely a little boy. The following day whilst travelling in the car, as a family we tried to come up with a name for him. our daughter said Oliver, as we found out she had been doing Oliver Twist in school. I said what about Ollie? And as a family we decided he would become Ollie.
We went to visit Ollie and Karen nearly every Saturday afternoon for a couple of hours to get him used to us and to get our daughter used to him too. When Ollie was around 5 weeks old, we sat and played with him in the area of the cattery where there were other kittens. We sat watching a mummy cat who had six kittens in with her. She caught our attention as she was clearly desperate to get away from her kittens and was making us giggle as she climbed as high as possible to try and get away from them. We knew they were a similar age to Ollie but were a little bit bigger. The following weekend, we watched the kittens playing together again and I realised that Ollie currently didn’t have that bond or playtime with other kittens his own age. He had a very loving loyal friend in Karen’s doggy but I felt sad for him to not have a kitten playmate. I looked at Sam and mentioned the kittens in the other room. He said then… we are getting two aren’t we?
Finding Ollie a friend
We spoke to Karen who put Ollie back in his cage so we could meet the other six kittens. We found out that two were already reserved. Unfortunately, the beautiful little white kitten was very timid and I don’t think she would have fit right in our house, which left three to chose from. One was very boisterous… we said he would probably be too much for Ollie and another kitten had been paired with this kitten as they had bonded. Which left one tabby and white kitten left. This kitten was a very pretty kitten and let me have a good cuddle with them. We believed it was a boy to begin with which we thought he would get on perfect with Ollie. Karen took Ollie and the new kitten home for the weekend to see how they got on. She messaged me the following morning to say that the kittens had been a little bit weary of each other to begin with but she found them cuddling in bed together the following morning. Karen also told us she was 99% certain the new kitten was a little girl. They have never been apart since and have always got on amazingly. Karen would send me updates throughout the week, of them playing together and running around her kitchen. We certainly picked Ollie the perfect best friend. The following week we went back to Derby RSPCA to play with both kittens together. Karen had the new kitten checked and she was definitely a little girl. We decided to call her Callie.
Bringing our new kittens home
The kittens didn’t come home straight away as planned as there was a little set back with Ollie’s tummy. When we finally were able to bring them home, I sat with them in the backseat the whole journey, stroking their paws through the carrier door. We already had their new toys, beds and feeding station all set up for their arrival home. We opened the carrier door and Ollie was straight out, walking around the carpet and going straight to his food bowl. Callie was a little more reserved, taking a moment to stretch her leg out the carrier before putting her foot onto the carpet. We let the cats have an hour walking around and taking in their new home before bringing our daughter back home from my mums to meet the kittens. They both began to settle into their new home within a few hours, having plenty of cuddles and going to sleep whilst their tummies were being tickled.
Fast forward 4 months and they are both loving their new home. Ollie is referred to as Ollie Bob and Callie has become Callie Catkins. They have both really come out with their different personalities and characters. Ollie is more reserved than Callie and is often found asleep in his radiator pouch or curled up on my oodie. He loves to come to bed with me every night and curls up into me underneath the quilt. Callie is more playful, she likes to sit on your shoulder and found great pleasure in learning to climb our nets and Christmas tree. She has calmed down a bit since being spayed in January and doesn’t get up to as much mischief now. Ollie always makes us laugh, as he would be sat at the bottom of the nets almost holding them still as Callie was climbing them. He certainly found his perfect partner in crime. After being neutered the same day as Callie, he took great delight in walking around her cage and showing off that he had the house whilst she had to sleep in kitten pyjamas for a week. They both are really interested in water and you can’t take a bath or shower without having a four legged friend sat watching or batting the bubbles from the top of the bath tub.
We couldn’t have found a better pair to complete our little family and love how much fun and joy they have brought to our house.
