A 26-year-old death-defying cat is still going strong despite
being mauled by a fox.
BBC News reports that the cat, Pussywillow, from Shropshire,
was attacked four years ago but seems to have come through
the experience and is still "sharp in her mind and her
eyes", according to her owner Lin Brown.
Ms Brown said that although now eating normal cat food, until
the fox attack the long-living feline had existed on a diet
of animals she caught herself.
She went on to say that the family had taken in the near-feral
cat when her son was four and he was now 30.
"I know from my local vet that they've always been absolutely
astonished and said they have never known a cat that old,"
she told the BBC.
Marion Micklewright, from Shropshire Cat Rescue, said that
she had not heard of any other cats living to 26-years-old
and would "love to know what they fed it on".
Pussywillow still has some way to go to beat Spike, a ginger
and white tom from Dorset, who died aged 31 in 2001.
The Guinness Book of Records confirmed it at the time as
the longest living cat in the world.
Hero dog gets gold award
A dog has been hailed as a hero after receiving the animal equivalent
of the George Cross for saving an elderly woman's life.
Ghillie, an English springer spaniel, was being walked by the mother
of his owner when she suddenly collapsed after suffering an epileptic
fit.
The animal raced up to a group of workmen on the remote island of
Fair Isle in the Orkneys and although initially worried about his
apparently aggressive barking, they followed him to the spot where
the woman had collapsed unconscious in the undergrowth.
Mary Wilson, 62, was then ferried on a tractor to an ambulance and
then taken to the local hospital.
Her husband told the newspaper: "To
us he is a very intelligent dog."
"What he did was fantastic and Mary and I will be forever grateful
for what he did."
The PDSA has made many awards to animals for heroic action over the
years.
They mainly go to dogs but cats are also honoured.
One called Simon was given the Dickin award, which is the animal
equivalent of the Victoria Cross.
He won it for keeping the rat population down thereby preserving
the ship's food supplies on the HMS Amyethyst during a naval siege
His actions, in effect, saved the lives of many sailors.
Rich dog 'in hiding'
A dog who inherited a £6 million fortune is being hounded with
death threats and is in hiding.
The eight-year-old was flown from Connecticut to Florida and is now
at a secret location.
Maltese terrier Trouble had the money bequeathed to her by 'Queen
of Mean' property and hotel billionaire Leona Helmsley when she died
in August.
Ms Helmsley was jailed in 1989 for tax evasion and famously said,
"only little people pay taxes".
John Codey, who is in charge of the dog's trust fund,
said: "We've had problems keeping her identity confidential and
we had to change her name to take her on the aircraft.
"We called her Bauble instead of Trouble."
Mr Codey has estimated the cost of looking after Trouble at £150,000
a year.
This includes round-the-clock supervision, security, medical care
and grooming.
Although when Trouble's owner was alive she was given food prepared
by chefs she now, reportedly, eats common dog food.
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