Ten years after being adopted from the CPW shelter, Piu is “blind as a bat” but still living her very best life.

In 2015, an 8-year-old grey Burmese called Amber was surrendered to us by her family as she wasn’t coping with the new dog. Luckily, she was soon spotted by a couple who had recently lost their cream Burmese cat at the age of 19.

Anne says while they were still missing their previous pet, they couldn’t resist coming in to meet Amber.

“We thought we’d better take a wee look,” she says. “She was shy and timid at the time. When we went back again, we had to take her home. We could see that when she was settled, she would be moochy.”

Renamed Piu, which is Italian for “more” or “plus”, she quickly learned to respond to her new name when she’s called.

“She’ll come from a mile away – she’s very dog-like.”

Piu happily took centre stage in the home, and Anne wasn’t going to let her be displaced by an actual dog again.

“We always said we’d never get any other pets as long as we had her.”

Anne has banned all dogs from visiting her place so they don’t upset Piu: “This is her house and she doesn’t do well with other animals.”

Ten years later, Piu has just turned 18. She was treated to a piece of T-bone steak on her birthday, a break from her usual prescription food.

Despite her general good health, two years ago, she unexpectedly had a seizure, and her vets Petone Animates (“they were so incredible with her”) put her on medication to keep the seizures at bay.

But then 18 months ago, she lost her sight.

“I saw it happen in a week,” Anne says. “She went from racing around to bumping into things, so quick. But she’s very resilient, it doesn’t bother her at all.

“This morning, there was a tiny triangle of sunlight on the carpet. She’s as blind as a bat, but she could still find it ok… she’s like a ninja. She can be quite sneaky – she’ll go and knock over the Temptations box so she can sneak them.

“She loves going outside, so while the weather’s good, I try and take her outside every day.”

Piu also recognises the words for left and right, and will turn on the spot three times to identify the direction she wants to walk in: “It’s amazing to watch.”

“She sleeps with me all night, head on the pillow. I spend more on her food than I do on my own. I forgot to mention how loud and chatty she is, and you can hear her snoring a mile away.”

Right now, Anne’s facing a house move, and admits to some stress over how Piu will cope with the new smells and a new environment.

Asked whether she thought she’d still have Piu at 18, she replies: “You always hope you’ll have them for a while. I’m thankful to get to 18, I thought maybe 16… she just keeps on trucking.”