Ramona and Tomi met in a toilet...yes, really!
“I was visiting a friend at their office in Romania. The toilet had doors that went straight out into the garden. I found this tiny kitten hiding under the sink. No one knew where he had come from, there were no new mothers locally, and no one had seen a stray.”
“He looked sorry for himself; he had an eye infection and was hungry. Once I established that he was homeless, that was it—he came home with me. We had him checked over, and now we travel everywhere together.”
Ramona and Tomi have lived together in four different countries.
“Tomi has been on a plane three times, as well as driving from country to country. He was born in Romania and has lived with me in the UK, Ireland and now Switzerland. He’s pretty well-travelled.”
Tomi is a very active cat who loves to be up high. His favourite spot was on the window ledge, watching birds and neighbouring cats.
“He was never a good hunter, but he would chase anything with feathers. He was always with us, running around, bringing us his favourite toy mouse. He was talkative too. I guess you’d say he was always present in our lives.”
But last year, Ramona started to think Tomi was in need of some joint support.
“What drew my attention the most was that he was sleeping a lot. He wasn’t around or interacting. Then I noticed that he wasn’t jumping onto things and was slow getting down from the couch and window ledge.”
“Tomi likes to drink from the tap in the bathroom. He jumps onto the sink and then shouts at us until we turn the tap on. But he would just shout at us to lift him up.”
Ramona and her partner began remodelling their apartment to accommodate Tomi.
“Our furniture was all over the place. I put a lower chair in front of the window ledge to help him get up. All of his favourite spots had extra furniture in front of them to give him a step up or down.”
Ramona was worried and took Tomi to see her vet in Romania.
“It was his mobility, and I was worried. I started to think of his future. How difficult is it going to get for him? What will his quality of life be like?”
Cats are very good at hiding when they are finding something difficult, which means that mobility concerns, although widespread, are often missed in cats.
“When we moved to the UK, I took Tomi to register him with a vet there. He recommended we try AntinolⓇ. It seemed like a great choice for Tomi.”
Ramona gave Tomi the recommended amount of AntinolⓇ for the first two weeks and then reduced him to the maintenance amount of one softgel capsule a day. Tomi was feeling good! He was happy, chatty and busy.
“I remember clearly the first time he jumped to his window ledge. My partner and I were on a video call with our family, in lockdown. We saw him getting ready to make the jump, and we just stopped mid-conversation, waiting to see if he would make it.”
Tomi is now up to his usual antics—climbing up to his favourite spots and exploring his new home in Switzerland.
“He can get onto the sink and has no trouble balancing. He still shouts at us to turn the tap on though.”
“I am so happy that Tomi is feeling good. He’s happy, and our furniture is back in its normal place. His quality of life is good, and I hope it stays that way. Definitely give AntinolⓇ a try for your pet.”
Ramona and Tomi are settled in Switzerland now. They’re not planning any more big moves.
“He will still be a jet-setter though. We are going on holiday to Italy soon, and Tomi will be coming with us. He can get comfortable in his pet carrier.”
