26 January 2024 , 16:12
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It’s time to meet our next winner of the Mirror People’s Pet Awards with Webbox.
Our team went through thousands of nominations to produce a shortlist for the judging panel, who chose which incredible animals and animal lovers should receive a trophy.
We’ll be revealing them every week - and today, it’s our Cats of the Year, Thumper and Smooch.
They were born with a long list of deformities caused by inbreeding – yet, charming kittens Thumper and Smooch capture the hearts of everyone they meet.
Not only are the adorable pair - who were adopted last year by Helena Abrahams from Bury, Greater Manchester - thriving in their new home, they’re doing their bit to highlight the importance of spaying and neutering.
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“Thumper and Smooch are such special cats, they never deserved the challenges they were born with,” says Helena.
“They’re doing so well considering everything they have to deal with, and already, before they’ve even hit their first birthdays, they’re tagged regularly on social media when people are talking about spaying and neutering. The deformities they’ve got are very severe – and crucially, they could have been avoided.”
Smooch (pictured) lives with Thumper and seven other cats (Supplied)While Smooch was born with a significant split between his mouth and nose, all of Thumper’s legs are deformed. He has two club feet at the front, half an ear on the left-hand side, and his tail isn’t fully formed.
“As well as the problems with his front legs, Thumper has had to have one of his back legs amputated, and we’re raising money for his treatment,” says Helena, who runs ‘Gizmo’s Legacy’, a campaign pushing for a change in the law so all cats killed on roads must be checked for microchips.
“Yet despite all that, they’re both doing well, and they cope with the issues they’ve got.”
Helena learned about Thumper and Smooch through her Gizmo campaign, which began back in 2016 when her beloved cat Gizmo was disposed of after being hit by a car, with no attempt made to reunite her with her pet. It now has 1,000 volunteers across the country.
Owner Helena Abrahams, founder of Gizmos Legacy (Supplied)Alongside her work with the campaign, Helena now shares pictures and videos of 10-month-old kittens Thumper and Smooch on social media, along with her seven other cats who she calls the ‘Crazy Gang’, and says she’s committed to highlighting the importance of spaying and neutering as far and wide as she can.
“I hope that by sharing their story more people will realise just how serious this is,” says Helena.
“I’m delighted they’ve been chosen as winners in the ‘Cat of the Year’ category at the People’s Pet Awards as it reflects the seriousness of this issue and recognises just what special little cats Thumper and Smooch are as they continue to thrive, despite the serious challenges they face every day.
Thumper is proving popular on social media with thousands of engagements (Supplied)“They look alike, but Thumper and Smooch are not biologically related and they came to me a few weeks apart. That just shows how common this is. People just love them.
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“They’ve got huge personalities; they’re just the biggest characters and people love to watch them doing the silliest things. One video of Thumper turning over a water fountain got 98,000 hits online, while another where I tell his story has more than 30,000 – so despite their problems, this shows that with love and care, any cat can live a happy and fulfilling life.”
To contribute to the funds for Thumper’s treatment, visit his dedicated fundraising page here.
Send us your animal snaps
We love a cute pet picture, and so do our friends at Webbox.
And we want to see your favourite photos of your animal pals, so please send them in – the cuter the better. We’ll share as many as we can on our site, and in our brilliant Pet Club newsletter too.
Snowball, from Ayrshire (Supplied)We love this snap of Snowball the cat, getting her boots on for a winter walk, sent in by Peter McAdam from Ayrshire.
Send your snaps to [email protected] or tag our socials. Make sure to tell us a bit about your pet, what makes them special to you, and where you live. We can’t wait to see them!
