Greek stray cat's charm and loving personality compels British holiday couple to bring him home

Couple say a kitten "adopted them" after they found him meowing outside their hotel room in Greece. I say this sweet, Greek, stray, bicolour cat used his smarts and charm to compel the couple to adopt him 👍😎. That purr can be so persuasive.

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Toni Czogalik, 23, and her boyfriend were on holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes in October 2022. There was a thunderstorm outside. And there was a small, six-month-old black-and-white kitten outside their hotel room as well and he was meowing to be let in. He was soaked through.

It's probably pretty clear that the thunderstorm frighten the cat and he was looking for some comfort and used his charm and persistence to adopt this British holidaying couple. 

Toni said:

"One night on holiday there was a thunderstorm, and the kitten came to hotel door crying and soaking wet. We looked after him for the night and ever since then he kept coming back to our room and wouldn’t leave us alone. "

They named him Nermal and decided to adopt him. The video explains the difficulties of doing this and also the persistence and intelligence of Toni in achieving her goal. 

She had to go to a veterinarian to get Nermal micro-chipped and vaccinated. They bought a cat carrier from a local pet shop and an ID bag and some treats for the journey to the UK. 

Nermal was then flown from Rhodes to Athens and then he travelled by boat to Italy from where he was driven to the UK to be reunited with Toni. 

He arrived on November 8 and settled in well as you can see from the video. Toni explains the hurdles she encountered but she was aware of them:

"It was really difficult, the first few days I messaged every single charity in Greece that dealt with cats. We first took him to the vet to find out if he was healthy and microchipped. He wasn’t microchipped, so they said he was definitely a stray. The vet then gave him a microchip, rabies vaccination and a health passport, where I then began the process to have him flown over." 

The rescue cost £800 and it took four days in all. I'm not sure who drove him from Italy to the UK. It might have been her boyfriend. Perhaps they hired a car which must've added to the cost substantially. 

Toni and Nermal. Image: Toni and boyfriend.

Toni says that she loves looking after Nermal and she thanks all those who helped her to bring him back to the UK. She said: 

"We fell in love with him as he is the friendliest and most loving little kitten I have ever met. He is so cuddly; he wants to jump on and cuddle you all the time. We are so excited to spoil him and give him the best life in the UK. He is loving life; he is so spoiled. The volunteers were amazing - without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it." 

It's the kind of task which is a bit daunting but when you fall in love with a stray cat there's nothing else you can do but take him home.