‘Adventurous’ cat catches train for day-trip to London without owner’s knowledge

An adventurous cat had to be collected by her owner after hopping on a train and travelling over 17 miles from Surrey to central London.

Michael Hardy, 52, from Weybridge had to travel to Waterloo Station in London after Tilly managed to catch a train into the capital.

The two-year-old black and white cat has become a bit of a celebrity in her hometown as she spends her days meandering through local pubs and schools.

She’s previously caught buses and Ubers, but the 17-mile adventure to London is the furthest she’s managed to travel.

Michael said his girlfriend and co-owner Emma Hill received a call in November from station staff and the pair couldn’t believe how far she had made it.

He said: ‘She ended up getting on the train and going all the way to Waterloo. Luckily, I was working in London that day, but I had to drive across the city to go and collect her. The station staff couldn’t believe it.’

Tilly’s antics have gained her some fans who come see her at the local station – like Stevenage station’s famous resident, Nala.

But Michael pointed out: ‘Waterloo is the furthest she has ever made it. If she manages to get on the other line she could end up in Brighton.’

Tilly was originally a stray cat who was handed to the couple just over a year ago when two girls came knocking at their door to ask if they knew who she belonged to.

After taking her to the vet, they discovered that she didn’t have a chip, so a decision was made to adopt her.

Shortly after, she began her adventures, first visiting hotels in the Heathrow area- where they had lived at the time.

Michael added: Nobody knows where she came from. She loves going on travels by herself. It really surprised us the first time because normally cats like to stay close to home.

‘She is always at the local pub and sits behind the bar with the staff. She even takes herself down to the vet. She just does crazy stuff all the time. We have even had to get her Ubers home before.’

Having received many calls alerting them that Tilly had wandered off again, Michael decided to get her an Apple Airtag so that they could track her whereabouts.

However, the couple say they still receive multiple calls a day from concerned locals who think Tilly might be lost.

At first, the pair say they worried about her when she would disappear- but now they are completely used to it.

Michael said: ‘She starts banging on the door and meowing, we open it and off she goes, and we don’t know when we will see her again.’

Tilly also has a Facebook page where her adventures are posted, which has now gained an impressive 4.6K followers.

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