The story of a cat that visits his late owner’s grave daily has made the headlines in Italy.
Toldo, a cat living in Montagnana, northern Italy, was rescued when he was just a kitten and shared a very special bond with his owner Renzo until the elderly man passed away a couple of years ago.
Since then, Toldo has been visiting his owner’s grave every day and bringing his owner small gifts everyday in a show of affection. The gifts usually consist of leaves, sticks, twigs, plastic cups or paper towels.
“Even today I went to the cemetery with Toldo. On the way back, someone I know told me the cat has already been there early this morning,” Renzo’s widow, Ada said.
Neighbors have also seen Toldo wandering around the cemetery through the day.
It all started the day of the funeral, when the cat followed Renzo’s funeral procession to the cemetery.
The next morning, Ada went to the grave again. “We went to the cemetery with my daughter and found a sprig of acacia on the grave. I immediately thought that it was the cat, but my daughter was convinced that I was just in a very emotional state at that moment,” she told the news source.
That night, however, Renzo’s son returned to the cemetery and found Toldo standing guard at the grave.
Ada says that her late husband shared a particularly strong bond with Toldo “Renzo was very close to Toldo, who he had saved from a colony of feral cats when Toldo was just a three-month-old kitten”
Unfortunately, not everyone believes in the sanctity of the relationship between Toldo and his owner and some people often try to shoo the cat away.
“Some insensitive people shoo him away with stones or other things. Some old people believe the presence of an animal in the cemetery is disrespectful to the dead.” she said.
Still, Toldo remains resilient and continues to visit the grave everyday. Come wind, rain or snow, he never misses a visit. Such is Toldo’s loyalty to Renzo.
“My husband was very affectionate with him. Renzo loved animals. It’s almost as if Toldo would be grateful. He is a special cat, one can not help liking him, ” Ada said.
