In 2025 I am running the London Marathon in memory of a wonderful stray cat who found my family in his time of need and to raise much needed funds to help other cats like him. His name was Meatball and you can read his incredible story below:

𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹’𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗲

Eght years ago a beautiful stray cat began visiting us through the cat flap, eating our own cat’s food. He was such a handsome boy yet in such a bedraggled state, with ticks on his face and matted fur, that despite our own cat’s protests we did all we could to encourage him in the hope that we could help. Initially he was terrified of humans and would snarl at us and run away whenever we approached him, but we persevered. We named him Meatball, a name that really suits him to this day. We believe he had been treated badly in the past and was forced to live on the periphery of society, scraping an existence by finding food and shelter wherever he could. After months of showing kindness to Meatball, including feeding him by lying down on the ground with handfuls of wet cat food, we eventually gained his trust. Gradually, we groomed him, wormed him, de-flead him and cared for him until his eyes burned bright once more. Whilst still displaying some feral traits, he became a regular in our home and our children and ourselves would treat him like a beloved family pet whenever he chose to visit us. I often shared pictures and videos of Meatball’s latest antics on social media and many friends were pleased to read of his progress.

Sadly one day, Meatball dragged himself through our cat flap using only his front paws after being hit by a car. His back legs were in a bad way and he was crying out in pain asking for our help. He had come “home” to us because he had no one else to turn to in his time of need. I rushed home from work and took him straight to the vets. We were told that he had a fractured pelvis and would also need one of his legs amputated immediately with a 50/50 chance of survival. Although it was very expensive, we agreed to personally fund the operation, as the only alternative was to put him to sleep and no way were we going to let that happen to Meatball. The operation was a success and Meatball was now a tri-pawed cat. However we had a problem; Meatball was unable to pass urine without assistance after the accident. The vets believed that this may not be due to nerve damage but could be because Meatball was still in great pain and needed time to heal. As he could not empty his bladder himself, we were personally funding his hospitalisation at the vets after the operation to allow them to assist with this, but our available funds were getting low and time was running out.

We weren’t keen on the idea of crowd funding at first, but after being touched by Meatball’s plight, friends came forward keen to help him and persuaded us to setup a GoFundMe page. We were frustrated that Meatball had been so brave and come so far, yet may still have to be put to sleep, just for the sake of a few weeks to allow him to heal. After posting his page on social media, Meatball's story went viral with hundreds of shares. Donations came in from friends and strangers around the globe. Within no time at all we had raised enough to fund Meatball for three weeks of hospitalisation, catheterisation and medication. I visited him every night at the vets and he was always very pleased to see me and the staff would comment how these visits lifted his spirits. I on the other hand would often leave saddened, as each day passed without him being able to wee. Every time the vet phoned we hoped and prayed that it would be the good news we were waiting for, but alas it never came.

Knowing Meatball was a wild free spirit and with his best interests at heart, we knew there was only so long that we could keep him catheterised in a cage. This was no life for him and it was beginning to take its toll. After discussion with the vet we made the heart breaking decision to set a date of three weeks away as a deadline after which point we would be with him as he made his final journey across Rainbow Bridge. On the eve of the deadline, after exhausting all other options, we decided to bring him home and give him a special night with the family and one last try to wee. We gave him all his favourite foods, a nice new comfy bed and I lay on the living room floor beside him all night. Unfortunately he still did not wee. In the morning we took him out into the garden on a harness to try again but still nothing. With his final vet’s appointment looming in two hours and with a very heavy heart I went to fetch the shed key, in order to dig a grave in the garden. Just as I opened the drawer, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he had climbed onto his cat litter and then to my absolute astonishment and delight he proceeded to do the biggest wee I have ever known a cat to do! We couldn’t believe it, our family had experienced a roller coaster of emotions over the previous month and he had kept us in suspense until the very end. When we announced the amazing news, all of Meatballs fans on the internet went wild! The vet’s appointment to put him to sleep turned into a routine check-up and we were able to bring him home afterwards to his forever home. We were so pleased Meatball’s story got the happy ending it truly deserved.

Cats Protection is the UKs largest feline welfare charity. We help around 200,000 cats and kittens every year through our network of over 250 volunteer run branches and 34 adoption centres.

We provide neutering, microchipping, blood tests, worming and flea treatments, food, water and shelter to the thousands of cats and kittens that we have in our care at any one time.

We also seek to educate and inform members of the public about our work, cat care, homing advice and neutering information.