Cats Protection is asking cat owners in the south west to nominate their furry friends in this year’s National Cat Awards.

For over a decade, the awards have celebrated the difference cats make to owners’ lives by highlighting heart-warming stories of devotion, companionship and courage.

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.”

Could your cat follow in the paw prints of Pixie, from Melksham, Wiltshire, who previously scooped the Cats Protection Hero award in 2017?

Pixie alerted a sleeping couple to their toddler, April, who was choking in her cot. The quick-thinking cat woke parents Sophie and Mike before frantically running to and from April’s room to raise the alarm.

Cats do not need to have been adopted from Cats Protection be nominated for an award and owners have from January 15 until noon on Friday 8 March to enter 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 winning cats’ owners will then be presented with their trophies at a star-studded ceremony at London’s Savoy Hotel on Thursday, August 8 – coinciding with International Cat Day.

The overall winner will inherit the title of National Cat of the Year from Theo, who helped his owner Charlotte Dixon survive a potentially fatal blood clot.

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.

He 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.”

For further information about the awards email nationalcatawards@cats.org.uk or phone 03000 12 12 12.

Anyone wishing to nominate their cat should visit www.cats.org.uk/national-cat-awards