Many of us know a curious feline who likes to pay a visit to our gardens or tiptoe along the neighbour's fence. But Bradley Stoke resident Lolly, short for Lollipop, takes adventure to a new level, as she once hopped in the back of a neighbour's removal van for a ride to Warwick. Carole Buckingham and her family previously lived in the Great Meadow area of Bradley Stoke.
They have since moved to a different part of the town and their cat has accrued nearly 400 followers to her 'Where's Lolly?' Facebook group, which helps Carole keep track of where Lolly is visiting. Neighbours post photos of their meetings with Lolly in the Facebook group. One day, before having had a chance to check on Lolly, Carole came across a post on the group saying her intrepid pet had been on a ride to the West Midlands earlier that day.
Read more: I visited gorgeous outdoor swimming spot 45-minute drive from Bristol and was surprised The 13 beautiful beaches just an hour's drive from Bristol "Her trip to Warwick is definitely her craziest adventure! Luckily she was there and back before I knew what had happened!" said Carole. "I was away with work and was just catching up on Facebook at the end of the day when I read what had happened, but by that point she’d been safely returned home. We were very grateful to the removal company that found her!" Before Lolly's family moved house, Lolly was known to frequent the school, Tesco and the local pub on a Friday night.
"Her best friend at our old house was our postman. She spent many an afternoon snoozing in his van, often sharing his lunch. She’d get very grumpy when he had to leave and I needed to get her out," said Carole.
Lolly only has three legs. It is suspected that she was hit by a car whilst out on her travels. "She came home one night with a really bad injury to her leg.
We rushed her to the emergency vets and she spent over two weeks at Langford where they tried to save her leg but ended up having to amputate. "All of her treatment went well over the £7,000 insurance cover and one of her followers set up a 'go fund me' to help towards her vets fees; I couldn’t believe people I’d never met were donating towards her vet bills as they’d met her and fallen in love with her! She had cards made for her and treats dropped to our house once she was home. It was really lovely," said Carole.
Lolly and her cat sister Hazel are both kitted out with an Air Tag on their collars, though Hazel seems to be a little less adventurous. Hazel is ten months old and is tracked alongside Lolly throughout the day. "Lolly is a well loved family member.
She can be a bit spicy with us, usually when we keep her in the house. We try to keep her in at night to keep her safe but she doesn’t understand. She just loves being outside!".
