I have loved Persian cats for as long as I can remember and was delighted to find your Facebook page with the photos of gorgeous cats, a short history of how they came to you, what treatment they needed and the rehoming of these cats.

I also felt very safe looking at your page as you are quite a long way away from me so I wouldn’t be tempted to adopt as I already have an 11 year old rescued Persian. But then the fatal day arrived when you posted that you have wonderful volunteers to transport any cat to anywhere in the country. That did it, I was hooked and looked at your page constantly.

I knit for charity and decided to send you some teddy bears to help with your fundraising and got to know  well you over a short space of time. Then I spotted a cat that was so much like my beloved Marty that I’d lost to kidney failure a year before and I desperately wanted this cat. His name was Timmy and I loved him from the off. But then you posted that you would be keeping him yourselves as me had come in with Huggybear and couldn’t be separated, plus they were in such poor condition you didn’t think they would ever be fit enough for rehoming. I was devastated, I so wanted that boy. But I didn’t give up, I kept on at you with photos of Marty and I telling you how happy the two of us had been together, you must have thought I was a mad woman. Then one day I received a message to say that Timmy was so fit that you were now going to re-home him. I had to ask you why you were telling me this as I couldn’t quite believe what was happening, did you have me in mind as his new mum? The answer was yes and I nearly collapsed with shock and delight. I didn’t know that Huggybear was also fit enough to leave but you told me that he had only had one offer of a home which seemed crazy as was the best loved cat on your page with everyone following his heart breaking story. Nobody wanted these two boys split up, including me so I said I’d be thrilled to have both of them. I had a very long wait for your reply – at least it seemed that way to me – but it was a YES providing I passed a home check. I think I told everyone I know that I was hopefully having these two beauties within about half an hour, to convince myself really as I was in a daze, couldn’t believe my luck. Everything happened very quickly then and the boys were with me within a matter of days. They were brought here on a Sunday, arrived about an hour before they were expected with a very nice lady that was one of many that had given up their time to make this happen. They are all volunteers and sometimes donate the cost of the petrol to you as well as their time, I can’t praise them enough.

You worked a miracle on Huggybear, he was at deaths door when he arrived to you and all of us that followed his story thought that he wasn’t going to make it, more than once. To see him now you would think he’s had the most wonderful, pampered life, not the awful time that he did have. He’s not bonding with me as readily as Timmy has but he is coming round slowly but surely. Timmy is just wonderful and more giving, I love them so much. It was wonderful to see them charge the full length of the house, up and down the stairs over and over again within an hour of arriving here. I have a permanent smile on my face when they are awake, it’s great fun watching the two of them playing together and I’m so pleased to have been able to keep them together.

I will keep knitting for you so that you can raise funds to have many more stories with happy endings like ours, wish I could do more as it is so important to save these beautiful cats and find loving homes for them. I know that your vets bills are horrendous and must be a constant worry to you so if anyone that reads this can find it in their hearts to help in any way, l beg you to please do so. Whether it be time, money, knitting, driving or anything else that would help, we would all be very grateful., but especially the cats.

So it’s a very big THANK YOU  to all of you and your wonderful volunteers from a very grateful convert to your rescue. You do the very best possible for every single cat that is lucky enough to come into your care, you follow up to make sure that everything is going well, you will have the cats back if anything were to happen to me, you sent three huge bags of beds, toys, trays etc. with the cats so that they had something familiar here with them, I don’t think you could do any more if you tried, cannot praise you all enough. I just hope that I can live up to your standards and give the boys all that you would have had you kept them. I will do my utmost, but you are a very hard act to follow.

Please support Strawberry Pedigree Persian Cat Rescue

Yours,  Marilyn Lewis.  Xxxx