ELVIS the cat was all shook up when he was picked up by the RSPCA in September last year.

He was suffering from a broken pelvis and his hip had come out of its joint, but the courageous kitty willed himself better under the watchful eye of Dawn Lomax, who fosters animals for the RSPCA.

Mrs Lomax, aged 40, of Old Lane, Horwich, is also a carer at Lever Edge house nursing home in Great Lever, and loved him tender round the clock, even taking him along to work with her in a portable cage. Elvis had to be fed special food every two hours in small amounts.

Mrs Lomax said: "The home was really understanding about me bringing Elvis along. The residents absolutely loved him and now he is getting better, they want to know how he is all the time.

"I think they will miss him terribly when he goes to his new home. He has brought so much pleasure to them."

When the injured two-year-old Elvis was found in Deane, Mrs Lomax was asked by the animal charity to look after him.

So the cat went to live with her in the house she shares with her husband Michael and eight other cats she has kept after fostering.

Now Elvis is bounding around and almost ready to go to his new home -- living with the daughter of one of Mrs Lomax's friends.

She said: "It was awful when I first started to look after Elvis. He was in such a bad way. He has had to be cared for by the vet, who gave him medication and I have looked after him 24 hours a day.

"But he is off to another home now. My house is a bit full, but it will still be hard letting him go."