Tuesday 24 March 2026
Would you travel 17 hours to save a stray kitten? For Good Samaritans and Alice Springs residents, Robert (pictured below) and Katherine Elmes, it wasn't even a question!
What started out as an uneventful road trip from the Sunshine Coast to Adelaide for car repairs turned into a heartwarming tale that Robert and his partner, Katherine, will tell for years. It was Sunday 8 February 2026 when the pair were travelling through Tooleybuc in New South Wales and spotted a stray, dark coated kitten on the side of the road.
"She was sitting on the white line on the road, and I decided to pull over and move her off the road. After I moved her, she screamed at me, ran after me and then sat at my foot," recalled Mr Elmes.
"When I looked at her, one eye was closed with discharge, the other one was half open. I decided to wrap her up in a blanket and try to find the nearest vet, which proved to be challenging as it was a Sunday and we were in a remote town."
With no luck finding an open vet, Robert and Katherine decided to continue their 400km journey to Adelaide with the four-week-old kitten in tow.
"We got a litter tray for her, we had the blanket and she slept the entire way to Adelaide," Mr Elmes said.
After seeking veterinary care at the Small Animal Specialist Hospital at Kent Town, Robert and Katherine were conflicted about what to do next. The couple were in Adelaide for three days and had no way of caring for the kitten as their hotel didn't allow pets. That's when they decided the best option would be to surrender the kitten to the RSPCA SA's Animal Care Campus at O'Halloran Hill.
"We had grown an attachment to the kitten and after we got home to Alice Springs, we checked RSPCA's adopt a pet webpage every day for three weeks," Mr Elmes remembered.
"I then decided to call RSPCA SA to see what was happening. They told me that she was in foster care and needed to grow a little bit more to undergo desexing, which would take a few weeks, so I submitted an Expression of Interest to adopt her and waited to hear back.
"On Friday 6 March I finally got the call! The plan was to fly the now nine-week-old kitten up to Alice Springs, but having recently undergone desexing surgery, RSPCA SA advised that it was not safe for her to fly. So, without hesitation, we got in the car, drove 17 hours to Adelaide and adopted her in person.
"We decided to name her 'Tilly' after the town of Tooleybuc where we found her.
"When we surrendered Tilly, we thought, 'Well, at least we helped her find a loving family,' but we couldn't stop thinking about her, the connection was too strong."
Having settled nicely into her new home in Australia's Red Centre, Robert describes Tilly as a playful, energetic, affectionate and gentle kitten.
"We felt like Tilly choose us. She was sitting on the side of the road waiting for somebody, and we were the ones who pulled over, and she came and sat at my foot," Mr Elmes concluded.
For National Pet Adoption Month, RSPCA's official nutritional partner, Royal Canin, will contribute $100 for each cat or dog adopted from the charity in March, giving more animals like Tilly a second chance at a happy life.
Last financial year RSPCA SA found homes for more than 3,000 deserving animals said Chief Executive Officer, Marcus Gehrig.
"The joy that comes from adopting an animal is unrivalled and we have so many unique animals in our care waiting to be discovered and taken home," Mr Gehrig said.
To view all dogs and cats available for adoption at RSPCA South Australia, visit www.rspcasa.org.au/adopt.
