Life changing

Millionaire Pets – Felicia George, the cat who scared off an adder

They are the pets who hit the jackpot – when their National Lottery winning owners decided to take on animals who needed love, patience and a whole load of luck. Here we meet one of the adored pets who were saved by the Lottery.

Geraldine Bradley and family won £3.5Million on Lotto in March 2006. She lives in south-west Wales with husband Christopher, and Felicia George – a cat who thinks she is a dog. When Geraldine rescued a creature so tiny it had no fur, she didn’t know it was a kitten – and never realised it would one day save her own life. Here Geraldine tells the story of Felicia George.

My son Lee found a tiny, pink creature inside a humane trap. It was about two weeks old, the length of my little finger and it was impossible to tell if it was a rat. It was aggressive, and trying to bite, despite being weak and clearly close to death.

Saved

We put the tiny creature into a shoe box and drove to the vets. Here, in farming country, they have a brutal survival-of-the-fittest outlook. The vet said it was a feral kitten, born in the wild, and told us to throw it into the hedgerow where it would probably die. It was so young he couldn’t tell if it was male or female.

I had to give this tiny thing the best chance, so I bought some formula milk for baby animals, and together with Christopher, my son Lee and daughter Zara we set up a rota of feeding every hour. It was exhausting getting up through the night, but on day four, this tiny creature with black beady eyes moved across the carpet and went to cuddle the dog. I knew then that she was going to survive.

It's a girl!

We gave the kitten the name Felicia George – as we didn’t know if it was a boy or girl. The kitten grew black and white fur, and quickly ruled the roost. By the age of eight months, the kitten had put on weight. One evening, it sat down in front of us and calmly gave birth to four kittens. We realised then we had a girl cat!

Most cats will hide to give birth, but Felicia George has always believed she is a dog. She lies on her back for tickles, she enjoys being bathed, she follows us everywhere and if Lee’s rabbits or ferrets escape, she calmly fetches them in her mouth and brings them back to us inside – unharmed.

Incredibly, this little hunter knows which animals are pets and which are prey. She’s incredibly protective of me, and when I am in the garden, she stays by my side.

One day, I was kneeling in the long grass when Felicia George suddenly hissed. Her fur rose, and she leapt in the air at something beside me. It was an Adder – which I had not noticed. The snake escaped, but the cat saved me from a snake bite that day. Now, she’s on full alert, always checking that I am safe.

The Lottery gave us the luxury of not having to work, and being able to hand rear this tiny little feral kitten. Our reward is this extraordinary loyal and loving little cat who is small in stature – but a true giant in spirit.

The National Lottery has been changing the lives of winners and supporting good causes across the UK since 1994. In that time, there have been more than 7,000 new millionaires created and by playing The National Lottery you raise over £4 million for Good Causes every dayΔ.

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