AFTER a close scrape on the end of Southend Pier, and two road accidents, five-year-old Piers has finally found his purr-fect home - thanks to the local Branch of Cats Protection (CP).

The gorgeous ginger and white feline came into the charity’s care last year after he was found dumped in a box dangerously close to the end of Southend Pier.

Mary Morris, of CP’s Southend Branch, explains: “We had a call from the Pier Authority and immediately went to rescue the poor cat. He was in a sorry state and no-one knew where he’d come from. We aptly named him Piers and quickly went about finding him a home”.

After successfully finding him a new family, Piers wandered off and was involved in a road accident. He was so badly hurt, it was feared he might die.

Luckily, the brave explorer pulled through, only to get himself lost again, turning up ten miles away some three weeks later with yet another injury!

Thanks to his microchip, Piers was returned safely to the Branch, and it was at this point Mary decided that, for his own safety, it would be best to try homing him as an indoor cat.
“Piers seems quite happy to stay indoors”, Mary said.

“We think he could have been a ship cat, as he doesn’t seem to understand boundaries very well”, she added.

Luckily, Piers seemed the ideal candidate for Alexa Richardson, 22, from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex when she contacted the Branch to adopt a furry friend.

“The two of them took to each other immediately, and he is now more settled than he’s ever been!” said Mary.

Alexa agrees: “When I opened the carrier, he boldly climbed out and went straight onto my lap. He talks to me and my fiancè regularly in strange chirps - I think we’ve bonded very well. I feel very privileged to have ended up with Piers - he’s unbelievably friendly and has settled down well to life as an indoor cat”.

Southend Cats Protection has a number of cats in its care looking for loving, permanent homes. Residents in the Southend area interested in offering a feline a good home can contact the Branch on 01702 467001.