When Nadia Donaldson adopted 13-year-old Fudge, he had been with Mayhew for a while and had been overlooked by many.

Fudge was an old boy and could be bit grumpy, but Nadia fell for him. They had four happy years together until Fudge passed away earlier this year. Here Nadia pays tribute to ‘the world’s most beautiful cat’.

“At the start of February, I said goodbye to my fluffy boy Fudge. He was 17 and a half and had fought so many battles. He was the world’s greatest ginger ninja; the cat that knew his own mind, lazed around like a prince, howled like a banshee in the middle of the night and was my best buddy.

I adopted him from Mayhew six months after my brother was killed suddenly. I needed a distraction, something to love because I couldn’t love myself, and I needed an alarm clock louder than the one I had. Fudge was 13, had just been diagnosed with kidney disease and was the most handsome beast I had ever seen. In the four years I had him, we had a few adventures, including a Christmas Eve dash to the vets and an emergency call to the fire brigade when he got himself into a tricky tight spot! He also had a reputation at all the local vets that really wasn’t something to be proud of! But my favourite time with Fudge was when I couldn’t sleep at night and he would snuggle up to me and remind me that I wasn’t alone.

Carrying him to the vets for the last time broke my heart, but I whispered in his ear that I loved him, and I thanked him for the joy and comfort he had brought me in the short time I had him. I have had people say that he was lucky that I adopted him, but I was the lucky one.

If you are considering adopting an animal, I urge you to look past their age and any illnesses they may have. The love they give and the joy they bring outweighs all of this – it actually makes them extra special. Mayhew provided the most amazing support with Fudge’s kidney disease management (even though I’m pretty sure he was the worst behaved ratbag that ever visited their vet clinic!).

After all we went through, I would adopt Fudge a million times over. He was one of the best things that ever happened to me. He gave me more than I could ever give to him.”