Which furry heroes are up for a National Cat Award?

The National Cat Awards are back!

The awards celebrate cats across the UK that have gone above and beyond the standard furry friend, from support through tricky times to heroism.

The yearly event is organised by the charity Cats Protection and there are four competition categories: Connected Cats, Family Cats, Senior Cats and Incredible Cats.

Keep reading to find out more about some of this year's finalists:

Carrot (senior cat category)

22-year-old Carrot is one of the finalists

Meet Carrot, a ginger 22-year-old cat with only three remaining teeth.

Carrot lives with Charlotte and Rob in Ledbury, Herefordshire, after they rehomed her from a rescue centre.

Having requested the 'saddest cat', their bond with Carrot was instant.

Carrot's parents rehomed her from the rescue centre

Carrot has since provided lots of joy for the couple, and has provided them with many happy memories.

Carrot's owner Charlotte said: "She is feisty and speaks her mind but is so loving. If I could be an advocate for adopting older cats, I would, she has brought so much joy!"

Kiki (connected cat category)

Everyday Kiki travels to and from school with Sonny

Two-year-old Kiki lives in Glasgow and belongs to Michelle.

Kiki loves an adventure and every day will follow Michelle's son, Sonny, and his friends on their walk to school.

She then waits in the playground, before following them home again at the end of the day.

Kiki has 100% attendance and is well known by the staff and pupils at the school.

Michelle says: "She's brought a lot of joy to the children, staff and school community and given the teachers an opportunity to teach children how to treat cats and respect them."

Can you spot Kiki following along?

Fizz (connected cats category)

Fizz has his own facebook page with 1.6K followers!

Another finalist in the connected cat category of the competition is Fizz.

Four-year-old Fizz lives in Wales and loves to explore his town!

Fizz is such a wanderer, he has his own Facebook page with 1.6k friends watching his every move over town from the newsagents to the gym, and even on stage at the local theatre.

This ginger cat loves to explore and the whole town have taken him into their hearts.

Owner Briony says: "As far as Fizz is concerned, the town is his. He gets up at five in the morning, meows like mad until one of us gets up and lets him out, then he's off.

He does what he wants, when he wants, I've just got to accept he's a natural born wanderer. He adores people and loves attention."

Fizz has even been on stage at his local theatre

Mitts (incredible cat category)

Mitts has been a great companion for Louise

Like Fizz, Mitts is also from Wales.

She belongs to Louise, who describes her as 'extremely loving and quite bossy'.

Mitts helped keep Louise company after she went through a difficult time and was homeless for 6 months.

And now, it sounds like Mitts rules the house.

Louise said: "If I haven't gone to bed by half eleven, she's standing there meowing with this look on her face".

"She is just a little cat and asks for nothing but she gives so much."

Mitts is the boss of the house at home

Rocky (family cat category)

Rocky loves to spend time with his family

Rocky lives in Derby with his owners Abbie, Martin and their children.

He was picked by Abbie's son Thomas when he was just four years old, and they have been best friends since.

Whether Thomas is eating his breakfast, doing homework, having tea or watching TV, Rocky is right by his side.

Rocky also has a bit of a cheeky side, and enjoys drinking from the tap in the downstairs toilet rather than his water bowl.

Abbie said: "Rocky has brought so much fun, love and laughter to our family."

Thomas picked out Rocky when he was four years old