Two Strays and One Life Changing Event.

To preface this story, everything I write is true. I would not believe it had it not of happened to my family. In 2011, after the floods that devastated Brisbane, Australia, many animals were displaced or put up for adoption. A few months prior to this, our family cat Sandy had passed away and we had been thinking it was time to adopt a cat again.

Fast forward two months, and the cleanup from the floods was starting to settle down. My mother's best friend since University called her to tell her about a group of stray kittens that had been brought into her veterinary practice. Knowing how much my family loved pets and were eager to adopt another cat, she gave us the website to look up with the kittens that remained. One immediately stuck out. A cute short-haired ginger tabby cat named Fanta. See my family had always had a tradition of adopting ginger cats, and our family friend had mentioned that the last of the litter were gingers due to no one wanting them. Believing this was destiny my mother drove down the next day to adopt Fanta, and possibly a second cat.

When she arrived, one of the vet nurses remarked that if she were willing to adopt two, to please adopt Fanta's brother as well as they were the last of their litter and inseparable. My mum jumped at the opportunity and that is how Fanta and Simba entered our lives. It was true what the nurse said, the kitten brothers were incredibly close as they slept, played and cleaned each other.

Everything went as normal over the course of a few years, they got along with our Border Collie dog Sally and everyone loved them. They even had their own quirks. Fanta was the more calm, indoor cat that expressed love through head-butts. Whereas, Simba was the more sassy outdoor cat that gave hugs upon command and liked to be carried around.

This is where the story becomes sad. In 2013, we realised Fanta had disappeared. Unfortunately, earlier in my life we had lost a cat due to a snake, so in this situation we assumed the worst. Although, he was micro-chipped and we searched the neighbourhood, we couldn't find any trace of him. Time passed and something insane happened.

This is the moment I knew animals come into your life for a reason. On the morning of February 15th, 2015, I was watching television when I heard a loud banging. When I turned, I saw Sally, our 12 year old border collie dog having a seizure. My heart sank and I ran crying to find my brother. We got Sally in the car and took her to the nearest vet, about a 5 minute drive from our house. We checked Sally in for tests, and in the meanwhile, rang our mother to ask her to leave work, and bring us her credit card, so we could pay for her treatments. The drive from my mother's work to the vet clinic was about 30 minutes, and during this time Sally was having intermittent seizures. Now this is where the story takes a peculiar turn.

During my mother's drive, she received a call. Having bluetooth enabled, she accepted the unknown call. The woman announced that she was from a vet clinic, my mother assuming it was our local vet told her not to worry and that she would be there soon. The woman paused and said "this is a different vet, I'm calling because someone just dropped off your cat Fanta." How my mother did not crash the car due to shock is beyond me. My mother quickly rushed up to my brother and I, and told us the news. Shocked and confused, we decided we needed to take an additional 25 minute drive to go pick him up. We assumed we would drop Fanta home and then come back for Sally.

Above is the photo I took 30 seconds after seeing Fanta again. I sent it to my family and friends in complete euphoria. After two years, Fanta's fur was still just as soft and as I knelt down he immediately head-butted me. My heart, filled with joy that he remembered me, then saw a flee crawl out from the fur on his cheek. But that's beside the point.

Simba and Fanta's reunion resulted in a lot of hissing from Simba as Fanta ran over to greet him. This of course would later subside, and they would return to being loving brothers. After the reunion, we then returned to the first vet. We found out Sally had a brain tumour and being as old as she was the best option was to put her down. Sally was surrounded by myself and my family and with so much love she took her final breath. Although, devastating to our family, we couldn't help but be blown away. After two years of being missing, Fanta had been returned to us on the day we put our dog down? The odds of this is baffling. Fanta had been missing for a long time, 25 minutes away from our house, and Sally had been diagnosed and put down in a matter of hours? It was the strangest 12 hours of my life. I woke up with a dog and a cat that day, and went to sleep with two cats.

Fanta would unfortunately develop cancer in 2019 and after a 3 month fight be put down. He was 8, and even to the end was so affectionate and by Simba's side until the day he couldn't be anymore. Simba is still alive today and as spoiled as ever. Although, he took a few weeks to adjust he remembered how to be an only cat with ease.

So, if this doesn't demonstrate how stray animals are the most loving and appreciative animals, I don't know what will. It was destiny that Fanta came back into our lives and out of complete love gave us a few more years to spend with him. Now, being a true member of our family he did it with drama and style. The world, and probably Sally knew we needed him on February 15th, 2015. Like the champion he was, he made grieving Sally a little easier. I miss Fanta a lot even years later, but I know that it was fate that allowed us to have so much extra time with him. Also, thank gosh for micro-chipping.