Girl who lost her mum to keep family cat

Kaitlin with the cat she shared with her mum. Photo taken from Change.org.

Hyde Group housing association have agreed that resident Karine and her niece Kaitlin can keep the pet following a meeting yesterday afternoon.

Jack the cat is one of the only reminders Kaitlin has of her mother, who died three years ago.

The Hyde Group recieved a petition of more than 3,600 signatures to allow Jack to stay after sending Karine a letter to say the pet had to be rehomed.

The letter listed a complaint that the cat was urinating in the hallway, but Karine said Jack rarely uses the hallway to enter the home. Housing officers met Karine and her neighbours to discuss the situation and meet the cat, which has lived at the address for three years.

After filling in forms to officially register the pet, Katrine confirmed that Jack will be able to stay with the family.

Apart from photos and newspaper cuttings, the pet is one of the only things Kaitlin has to remember her mother by. Karine explained that Kaitlin is very attached to the cat, which she chose and named with her mum.

“For her, it’s that link,” said Karine.

“She feels a sense of purpose when she looks after him. She says ‘he’s my cat now, isn’t he?”

Karine says the pet has been an ‘amazing healer’ to Kaitlin. The feline friend, which has lived in the flat since the fire, will often sit with Kaitlin when she’s ill and waits every day for her to come home.

A spokesperson for the Hyde Group said: “Generally speaking our policy is not to allow cats or dogs in apartment blocks due to difficulties with communal entrances and gardens. However, we do make exceptions to this if the resident engages with us and completes the necessary forms, which includes signing up to responsible pet guidelines.”

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