Feline welfare charity Cats Protection is calling on cat owners nationwide to nominate their fury friends in this year’s National Cat Awards.
For over a decade, the National Cat Awards have celebrated the difference cats make to owners’ lives by highlighting heart-warming stories of devotion, companionship and courage.
Entries open on Tuesday 15 January and owners have until noon on Friday 8 March to nominate their cat for one of five categories:
- Hero Cat – cats that save the day
- Most Caring Cat – cats that positively impact a person’s health or wellbeing
- Furr-ever Friends – tales of friendship between children and cats
- Outstanding Rescue Cat – fabulous felines adopted from animal charities
- PURINA® Better Together – celebrating the special bond that has transformed and enriched the lives of both a feline and human.
The National Cat Awards is sponsored by PURINA® and a panel of celebrity cat-lovers will select the winners. The wining cats’ owners will then be presented with their trophies at a star studies ceremony at London’s Savoy Hotel in August, coinciding with International Cat Day.
Cats Protection’s Awards organiser Kate Bunting, said: “This event is the highlight of the feline calendar and gives us the chance to celebrate everything we love about cats. Every year, the entries we receive go to show why cats make such great pets – whether it’s for helping their owners through times of sadness or loss, heroic moggies who come to the rescue, or brave felines who survive against the odds.”
The overall winner will inherit the title of National Cat of the Year from Theo, who helped his owners Charlotte Dixon survive a potentially fatal blood clot.
Theo followed in the paw prints of a long line of feline heroes honoured by Cats Protection. They include Genie, who helped schoolgirl Evie Henderson battle bone cancer; Tink, who saved her owners from a house fire, and Jessi-Cat who was celebrated for helping a seven-year old boy cope with Selective Mutism.
Broadcaster and Writer Andrew Collins, whose own cat Gerry was previously a stray, will be one of a panel of celebrity judges selecting the National Cat of the Year.
Andrew said: “Cats make a house a home and whatever stage of life they join you, it improves everything. The National Cat Awards honour acts of extraordinary bravery, empathy and loyalty. Humans are lucky to be chosen and adopted by cats of all ages.”
Anyone wishing to nominate their cat should visit www.cats.org.uk/national-cat-awards – after January 15 when the website opens.
