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The pet I’ll never forget: Harold, the halls of residence cat, who looked after me when I first left home

The Guardian UK Monday 07 September 2026, 10:00 UTC By Charlotte Smith 1 min read
Key Points

He was the gorgeous furry tabby who made my day, even when he waltzed into my flat just to finish my takeaway. Now he’s a campus celeb, with a part-time job guarding the doors of the village shopIn 2022, when I moved into halls of residence at the University of Sheffield, my biggest concern was no longer having a furry friend to come home to, as I’d had a cat since I was 11 years old. My first encounter with this gorgeous tabby was quite unusual.

He was the gorgeous furry tabby who made my day, even when he waltzed into my flat just to finish my takeaway. Now he’s a campus celeb, with a part-time job guarding the doors of the village shop

In 2022, when I moved into halls of residence at the University of Sheffield, my biggest concern was no longer having a furry friend to come home to, as I’d had a cat since I was 11 years old. Then I met Harold.

My first encounter with this gorgeous tabby was quite unusual. One day, in our 10-bed flat, a flurry of messages appeared on the group WhatsApp chat after my fellow roommates caught an intruder on the sofa, innocently munching on my leftover pizza.

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Harold (PERSON) the University of Sheffield (ORG) WhatsApp (ORG)
Originally published by The Guardian UK Read original →

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