PET rescuers in York are seeking a loving home for one of their favourite cats.

Cat lovers are urged to take nine-year-old Mouse home from the York Cats Protection shelter in Huntington Road as she is their longest-staying resident cat.

Mouse was abandoned and completely blind when she was found wandering the streets alone three months ago.

She was desperately underweight and ravenously hungry and according to Catherine Laycock, deputy manager of the home, Mouse would "almost certainly have died had it not been for the intervention of a passing motorist who handed her into the shelter."

Catherine said: "Unfortunately, with so many cats to choose from many people are unwilling to take on what they see as the extra responsibility of owning a blind cat.

"But Mouse is really no different from any other cat - she's very affectionate, plays happily with her toys and feels her way around using touch and smell."

Mouse would like a quiet and tidy home, and needs a very secure garden or to be kept indoors.

Another shelter resident looking for a home is 16-year-old Marge.

The white and tortoiseshell cat is very affectionate, but repeatedly ignored because of her age. Marge could be re-homed with her friend Tinker, aged four.

Meanwhile 12-year-old cat Zen is causing concern for shelter staff because she is displaying signs of severe stress due to her confinement.

Catherine said: "If we don't get a home for Zen soon she will become extremely depressed." For information or to adopt any of the cats mentioned, please phone Catherine or James on 01904 760356 or pop into the shelter at 582 Huntington Road, York between 11am and 3pm daily.

Updated: 09:12 Friday, June 06, 2003