Genevieve Moss has serious hearing loss. Her world has always been silent. Alone in a town in England, she often felt lonely.

Then one day in April in 2021, something stopped Moss as she read the local newspaper. It was a photo of a tiny black-and-white cat. A family was looking for a home for their last newborn cat. Moss fell in love with it at first sight and contacted the family. Soon, the cat came to Moss’s house. Moss called the cat Zebby because his colors looked like those of a zebra.

Moss once heard of studies showing that pets can help people deal with loneliness. However, she had no idea that Zebby would become her helper and her ears. From their first night together, Zebby has slept next to her. When he hears noises in the dark, he jumps up. “He became my night watch cat,” Moss said. “Sometimes he would run around the room until I woke up.”

After several weeks, Moss noticed that whenever her phone rang or someone knocked at the door, Zebby would touch her lightly. It wasn’t long before the cat took on another task: collecting Moss’s mail. Now whenever he hears the mailbox being opened, he runs towards it, carries the mail in his mouth and drops it at Moss’s feet.

This past May Zebby was named Britain’s National Cat of the Year by Cats Protection. According to the largest cat charity, Zebby beat out about 3,000 other cats because of the many ways he makes Moss’s life easier. He has had no training at all, but his natural abilities seem to have told him that his owner needs his help.

“Zebby has made my house a home,” Moss said. “I can hardly imagine not having Zebby in my life now.”