After being admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital, I decided that my recovery goal was to have my own cat (having grown up with one). To remind me - on my darkest days - of what I was working towards, I bought a kitten collar and hung it from a photo frame in my hospital room for the entire two-and-a-half year admission.

When it was finally around my kitten's fluffy neck I knew that all of my hard work in doing trauma therapy, psychology, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy; was worth it. I named my kitten Dolly and she taught me a lot about unconditional love and the power that feeling needed could have on my mental health. She helped keep me in recovery for almost four years.

On October 7th, Dolly was admitted to the Vets Hospital after showing symptoms of kidney failure. She was sent home on October 12th (her fourth Birthday) and readmitted the following day when her blood test results showed that her kidneys were indeed failing. She was kept in Hospital for the weekend and when blood tests showed her kidneys were getting worse, on October 15th she was sent home to be in the most comfortable environment with the understanding that she might only have a week left. On Tuesday 16th October 2018 Dolly was put to sleep. The Vet told me that the injection would take about five minutes to act but before he'd even finished administering it, she was gone. I gained some comfort in this when the Vet explained that this showed just how poorly she had been and how close she was to passing. But there is nothing that can take away the hurt you experience when you lose a bestfriend.

Dolly's Vet bill currently stands at over £1000

REST IN PEACE DOLLY WILSON

12.10.2014 - 16.10.2018