A North Tyneside couple are hoping that their rescue cat will bring a National Cat Award home to the North East this summer.
Four-year-old rescue cat Eric is living the life of luxury and the camera-happy kitty has more than 10,000 followers across Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. However, he came close to using up some of his nine lives as a kitten, having been taken off the streets of Wallsend by charity Strictly Strays, where he became sick with cat flu on three separate occasions.
At one point, it seemed that he may not survive. However, the charity nursed him back to health and he was given the nickname the Wallsend Warrior, before being adopted by Paul Richardson and Helen Aitchison. The couple, who live in Hadrian Park in North Tyneside, got Eric three months into the coronavirus lockdown, despite swearing that they wouldn't get another pet when their previous cat Holly died, due to the heartache that losing an animal brings.
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But when Helen felt she had a "cat-shaped hole in her heart" and the couple were thrust into working from home, they reconsidered and knew Eric was the one for them as soon as they saw his picture. Paul told ChronicleLive: "As a kitten he was small and malnourished almost to the point where he wouldn't be able to survive on the streets because he couldn't look after himself.
"His ears and legs are small, but he's got a big heart - he's very affectionate and loving. Eric's a lap cat, he spends a lot of time on our knees or when we're working from home he'll lie on our keyboards.
"Our lives for the past three years have been centred around Eric, we've got so much love to give but we don't have children so we call him our son. He's just lush."
After noticing how quickly their phones were filling up with photos of Eric, Paul and Helen set up Instagram and Twitter pages for his exploits around eighteen months ago. Paul says that his following escalated really quickly and he gained 500 followers on his first night, which now stands at more than 7,000 on Twitter and 2,000 apiece on Instagram and TikTok.
This brought him to the attention of Cats Protection, who have nominated Eric for the final three in the social star of the Cats Protection National Cat Awards. Paul continued: "He loves the camera, in a lot of photos it looks like he's smiling. He's a very photogenic cat."
Facilities manager Paul hopes that by sharing Eric's escapades on social media that more people will be inspired to help cats who have been abandoned or are living as strays. He continued: "It's quite a sad sight to see how many cats get brought into adoption centres if they've had an accident or they're unwanted.
"There are so many out there that deserve a second chance in life, especially when they have such a hard start. It's important to recognise that people can do more to help, and we hope that through telling Eric's story, more people are aware of that."
Eric is the only representation for the North East among the 12 cats remaining in the competition, with the couple keeping everything crossed that Eric will get his paws on the trophy.
He finished: "The support which Eric get gets from the cat community and seeing how much people champion his story and champion him is incredible. I started the competition as a bit of fun, but now we're in the final three and it's amazing to be shortlisted.
"We'd be overjoyed and it would be amazing if we won, we want to tell people to adopt don't shop, and what better way than to show off a stray kitten who's got a great life and his own happily ever after?"
Voting for the Cats Protection's National Cat Awards 2023 is open until June 30 2023, and you can cast your vote for Eric here. If you want to follow Eric, you can do so on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
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