30 Dec Millionaire Moggy Celebrates Life Since National Lottery Win
A couple from Essex who won £1M on The National Lottery five years ago believe a stray cat they homed just before the win, Billy, should also be celebrating the milestone as he enjoys the millionaire moggy lifestyle.
In 2017, despite their own financial hardships, Tony (71) and Deb (63) Pearce from Southend started feeding a local black stray cat they named Billy. Six months after welcoming him into their lives they won £1M on Lotto, from The National Lottery, and for Deb this cemented her belief black cats are lucky.
She said, “Some people say black cats are unlucky, I’d say nothing could be further from the truth! When Billy appeared we were close to selling our beloved home and becoming strays ourselves. Tony had stopped working due to ill health and we were in serious debt. It looked like our only option was to go into rented accommodation then, six months after Billy arrived, Lady Luck struck and our lives changed for good.
“We were able to stay in our home and renovate it into our own perfect slice of heaven. We’ve enjoyed holidays away and, closer to home, bought a place in Norfolk, somewhere we have always loved spending time and somewhere the whole family can enjoy. And to top it off we finally said ‘I do’ at our dream wedding.”
But it’s not only Tony and Deb who have benefitted from their life changing win, so too has Billy, who is guessed to be 8 years old. Having fought off a ‘couple of other contenders for the spot’ he’s firmly part of the family and now enjoys the very best in care.
Tony said, “When Billy suddenly fell ill last year, no expense was spared and after some tests at our local vet he was whisked to the emergency vet, staying in overnight for observation before being moved to a specialist unit for a week of intensive care. More recently, he has been diagnosed with diabetes so needs twice daily insulin injections and a tailored – not to mention pricey! – hypoallergenic diet to keep him in tip top health.”
Deb continues, “Aside from having us on call for his twice-daily injections, we also jump through hoops for his catering whims! Perhaps it’s due to his days as a stray when he must have enjoyed a very varied diet, but now we have to keep a selection of food for him. If he has more than three days on the same flavour he turns up his nose. And while he enjoys the chicken and vegetable meal, Billy doesn’t like the peas. I find myself rooting through his food, picking out the peas and wondering who is the National Lottery millionaire around here?!”
Billy enjoys this same level of care and attention when the couple head to their holiday place in Norfolk. Not wishing to leave him behind, Billy goes along so he can enjoy some R&R too.
Deb said, “I bought a huge carrier for Billy to get him to Norfolk so he has space to move about on the journey. I thought he might find it too stressful the first time but he settled down and slept the whole way. Now, whenever the carrier comes out of the loft he hops in as if to say ‘come on, let’s get going!’
“And to make sure Norfolk is a home from home, he has the exact same setup there as he has in Essex and this level of attention seems to suit him well. He arrives, has a little sniff around the decking and then settles down as though he’s never been away.”
A self-confessed ‘dog man’ Tony laughs at the ways in which he and Deb have adapted their lives to ensure their millionaire moggy is well catered for.
He said, “When I find myself paying the bill for vet care or Billy’s specialist diet, that comes in at more than our annual trip to The Savoy, I can’t help thinking that it might be Billy who is also lucky. It’s not a bad life for a Southend stray who clearly turned up on the right doorstep at the right time and proved to us that black cats are in fact lucky!”
Thanks to National Lottery players, more than £30M is generated each week for National Lottery-funded projects. This money helps support everything from the local charity making a difference where you live through to helping our nations’ athletes win medals at the Commonwealth Games. To date, over £47BN has been raised for National Lottery Good Causes, with more than 670,000 individual grants awarded.
