The story of Ollie the cat

I wanted to share with you guys the most adorable cat story I've ever heard. When I was first interviewed for my job at The Pam Dodd Agency I noticed a litter box in the basement and asked "Do you guys have a cat?" Pam responded with "Yes, there is a neighborhood cat that stops by almost everyday and hangs out for several hours." I didn't know at the time and neither did Pam how special this cat really was.

Ollie first showed up at the Pam Dodd Agency about a year before I started. Pam was working in her office when she heard a little scratch at the door she got up to check and there was Ollie waiting patiently for her to open up so he could come in. She let him in and he stayed at the office for several hours. Sure enough the next day he returned and kept coming back every day to stop by and say "hello!" (and get kitty treats). They decided to give their new kitty friend a name and named him Ollie for Allstate.

After months of him visiting everyday he suddenly stopped and didn't come back for a week. Pam got very nervous and decided to go out and search for him she went to the house next door and explained that there was a black and white cat who stopped by her office everyday and he hasn't been in a while. The couple, who recently had a baby, said "Oh! that's our cat Ollie, we've been wondering where he's been going to everyday" Pam looked at the woman and said "His name is Ollie? We named him Ollie for Allstate" They laughed about the strange coincidence and the woman informed Pam that she had not seen Ollie in awhile and have been distracted by the new baby. A little distraught Pam left worried about her little kitty friend. One day a month later Ollie came back as if nothing had ever happened.

Ollie continued to show up at our door everyday and would sit on my desk while I answered the phones and did my work. He was such a friendly cat, but it was very obvious he was getting a little old. About 6 months after I started Ollie disappeared again, but this time only for a week. Just when we were starting to get nervous Ollie came scratching at the back door so we let him in. This time he had a collar around his neck with a brand new name tag that said "Ollie". There was a note on the name tag with a phone number and address that said "if you know this cat give us a call" Intrigued by the fact that the phone number and address did not match the owner's we gave them a call. Sure enough a woman named Jeremy answered the phone who explained that they found Ollie who would come by their house everyday crawling on their fence and scratching on the door. After a couple of days they decided to let him in and take care of him. Jeremy came by our office and we asked her "So you must know the owners of Ollie huh?" She responded with "no we have no idea who they are that's why we gave him a collar and this note." In shock we asked her how she knew his name was Ollie? She said she had no idea his name was Ollie and had tried coming up with several names, but the only one that ever fit was Ollie. Our mouths dropped and we explained to her the strange coincidence that three different families all named the same cat Ollie with out any one knowing that was his name.

Jeremy ended up talking to the owners who explained they didn't have enough time to care for the cat with their new baby and happily let Jeremy keep little Ollie. She brought him to the vet where we discovered he was almost 14 years old. We were shocked by this as Ollie was always so energetic and lively. We certainly knew he was old, but not that old.

A year later Ollie got a very large tumor on his face and, unfortunately, he passed away a couple months later. We were all very saddened by this news and we still miss our little Ollie to this day. However, the day after he passed something amazing happened. I was sitting at my desk in the back office and I heard a little scratch at the door I looked up and sure enough there was a little kitty scratching at the door begging to be let in. We let him in and he followed Ollie's exact footsteps as if he knew the place, running up to Pam's door and meowing for treats. That cat stayed for a little while before leaving and as soon as he left another cat showed up and did the exact same thing. The next day another cat showed up and repeated the same thing! Two of the kitties continued to come for quite some time and one still shows up today. Their names are Elvis and Presley.

 

Presley (the one on the right) still comes in and happily sits on the chair in front my desk and watches me while I work just like Ollie used too. We secretly believe that Ollie was a very old soul who connected with the other neighborhood cats to let them know that in this office on Washington Ave there are good people, lots of love, and most of all treats!