A CAT from Redditch has been named as a finalist in the Cats Protection’s National Cat Awards 2018 after potentially saving his owner from dying.
Theo the cat, aged 8, beat hundreds of other entries to take his place as one of final three contenders in the ‘Purina Better Together’ category – which celebrates the special bond between cats and their owners.
Theo’s owner, Charlotte Dixon, said she felt very unwell one night and decided she needed to get some sleep.
She said: “I was confused, feeling shaky and generally very ill.
“Theo normally sleeps in my bedroom but this evening was different. He kept pawing at my face, nudging me and jumping on the bed every time I tried to drift off to sleep.
“By the morning I had deteriorated. When my mum came over and saw me lying there, she called an ambulance.
“The paramedic said I had a blood clot and it was a good thing I hadn’t slept, because if I had, I wouldn’t have woken up again.
“Afterwards I went to hospital and made a full recovery following a week in the High Dependency Unit.”
Charlotte believes Theo was returning a favour from when he was a kitten.
When he was young, Theo was seriously ill with cat flu and it was doubtful whether he would survive.
Charlotte stayed up throughout the night to keep him warm and feed him liquidised food through a pipette which helped him through it.
Cats Protection’s Awards organiser, Kate Bunting, said: “It was Charlotte’s devotion to Theo that ensured he was able to live, even against the odds.
“It makes it all the more touching that he was able to show the same kindness to her a few years later by taking action which probably saved her life.”
If Theo wins his category, he will also be in with a chance of being crowned National Cat of the Year.
He would follow on from last years winner, Genie, a cat from Lincol who helped a school girl battle bone cancer.
The ceremony takes place on August 2 and each winner will receive a trophy, a £100 pet store voucher and a year’s subscription to the Cat Magazine.
Visit http://www.cats.org.uk for more information.
