The city streets are no place for a cat to call home. And while many cats find themselves birthed there or abandoned on the streets, sometimes there are glimmers of hope in the form of kindhearted folks with a heart for homeless cats. Dobby and Dot didn’t have a very easy start in life. One abandoned and the other a wee little kitten with no mother in sight, thankfully they had fate on their side thanks to the lady who now calls them hers.
I caught up with Dobby and Dot’s owner, hoping to feature their heartwarming story for all of the Cattitude Daily readers. So, keep reading to learn all about this cute pair that’s living out their best nine lives together.
How did Dobby and Dot come into your life?
Dobby came into my life when I was working in a hotel as a receptionist. You see in Cyprus we have a lot of stray cats, lots get abandoned or are even born on the street. So Dobby showed up out of nowhere on the 17th of July 2020 at the hotel and it was love at first sight. He chose me. He just got attached to me and followed me everywhere and so, I fell for it. Somebody most probably abandoned him because he was very clean (no fleas) and mannered and very friendly with people. He was about 2 months old. It was hard at the beginning because I was living in staff accommodation provided by the hotel, and we were not allowed to have pets. But I sneaked him in my room anyway. And he became my office cat, hence his profile name on Instagram. He was coming with me to work every day and slowly even my boss loved him. Everybody loved him. He was getting all the tips.
Dot was found by my brother in a bush near a garbage bin in the hotel where he was working, She was very small, her eyes just opened and her mother was nowhere to be found. So my brother just brought her to me. And, after a ‘few’ sleepless nights of feeding her with a syringe every two hours, wiping her behind with wet napkins to stimulate her for number one and two’s, she slowly grew into a strong beautiful, and demanding girl. At first, I strongly thought she was a boy because of the fur pattern she had down there and was waiting and waiting to be right, but the vet confirmed she was a girl.
How did Dobby and Dot get their adorable names?
Dobby got his name after the Harry Potter character Dobby because he had very big ears as a kitten. Happy he managed to grow into them.
Dot was so small when I got her that I had no idea what name to give her. So Dot made sense, also because I thought she was a boy. But turns out it’s a good unisex name that also matches her fur pattern now. She is a mix of a spotted tabby and a patched tabby because of her orange dots, I guess.
What is each of their personalities like?
Dobby is weird and clumsy so he often makes me laugh. He is also gentle, funny, and overall a chill fluffball that likes to mostly lay around and watch the world go by from the window or some high spot. He gives me love, but only when he wants it, and has the power to keep me in bed for extra cuddles when it suits him. He loves water and drinks it straight from the sink tap, when I used to work in the hotel he used to sit by the pool and rest his paws in the water. Also, he adopted this behavior of a lap cat, sleeping on my legs when I worked at the reception and so he managed to keep this habit, and now he gets involved in all my office stuff. So why not, I bought him some little ties and bow ties to dress him the part as my cute office cat.
He used to drive me and my partner crazy when he wakes us up in the middle of the night scratching or busting open the bedroom door whilst we sleep to get my attention asking for food. He knew it’s bad behavior, but when I was telling him “NO” he deliberately pawed at the mirror one more time looking me straight in the eyes with a “what you gonna do about it” face! But since we moved into a new big house, and he is allowed to go outside again he is the best boy ever! He is a loving brother and taught Dot everything, from how to eat to how to use the litter box. Now he mostly engages in wrestling matches with her all over the house.
He thinks he is a food connoisseur and demands to try out anything I eat not hesitating to let me know he thinks my food is ‘crap’ by trying to cover it up with invisible sand or pretending to vomit when sniffing it sometimes.
Even though he adds fluff to anything I own, scratches my yoga mats, pulls down the clothes from the drying rack, and puts his paws in all my drinks, I love him. He is ‘mommy’s boy’ and my life would not be complete without him.
Dot on the other hand grew up to be a complete daddy’s girl.
She is wild, curious, funny, and extremely playful. Every day she likes to ‘help her big brother grow extra white hair’ so to speak. If she could she would probably ask me “What dis?” hundreds of times per day. She plays with everything and likes to run around like crazy from room to room especially when we sleep. She needs regular attention and doesn’t stop screaming at us until we pet her, but will immediately bite you if you pet her too much. She is annoying and demanding but also offers lots of love in return. She is a shoulder cat since a baby kitten and she activates the purrs every time you touch her and she gives you licks when she feels cute. She is a nutshell, acting innocent and kind of shocked every time you catch her doing something stupid.
She is an interior designer and likes to sprinkle my floor with extra litter, leave scratch marks on the sofas, and decorate the house with plastic bags, toys, bottle caps, and hair ties. She has an adorable face and gets away with every bad thing she does.
She conquered me from the first fainted meow and I love her with all my heart.
What are their favorite hobbies?
Dobby is a master at unrolling toilet paper! But he also likes chewing phone chargers, and shoelaces.
Dot‘s favorite activity as a kitten was biting Dobby’s tail! But she grew out of it and started playing fetch with her fluff mouse toys. She likes to drop her toy mouse in the toilet bowl and gets new ones every week. Recently she started playing fetch with my hair ties and now they are scattered all around the house. The good thing is, now I can find a hair tie whenever I need one.
What’s something special you’d like people to know about Dobby and Dot?
Dobby and Dot are both rescued street cats and although everybody says I rescued them, in fact, they rescued me. They helped me be less lonely and get out of depression when we had a very hard lockdown in Cyprus and we could not visit friends and family that don’t reside with us in the same house. I was basically trapped in a hotel with no regular staff or tourists, allowed to go out one time per day for a walk or to the shop. They made me laugh and gave me love and purrs. The purr of a cat is really magical! And so I made their own Instagram and blog, trying to inspire more people to adopt cats and also, along the way to be able to help more street cats find their furrever homes. So far we started small, by feeding a stray cat colony of about 35 cats in the vicinity of our home. We feed them every other day of the week.
I’d like to give a special “thank you” to Dobby and Dot’s cat mom, Trixie, for allowing me to share their images and story with all of the Cattitude Daily readers. For more of this cute duo, check them out on Instagram and on their website, That’s Meow.
All Images Courtesy of office_cat_ on Instagram
