FAMOUS feisty feline Snoopy has died after hitting the headlines earlier this year for attacking a postman.

The black and white moggy appeared in the Bucks Free Press and then national newspapers in January, after her owner Pamela Perham, 51, of Rayners Avenue, High Wycombe, received an official letter from the Royal Mail complaining about her pet's behaviour.

It asked her to keep the 14-year-old cat out of the way, to allow the postman to deliver her letters without the risk of injury.

Sneaky Snoopy had been spying on the unsuspecting postie from behind a tree every time he walked up the path, since before Christmas.

Eventually the cat decided to pounce on the postman's leg, and drew blood.

A devastated Mrs Perham said she had not yet notified the postman of Snoopy's death last Monday, adding: "It was just so sudden. She was crying round me and she never used to meow.

"I haven't seen the postman yet to tell him what has happened.

"I knew something was wrong so I took her to the vet.

"He said her bladder was in a terrible state and said the only thing to do was to not bring her round from an anaesthetic.

"I won't get another cat. She was lovely. She would play like a kitten. If she had been ill before we could have accepted it. She is buried in the garden."

She said she was being comforted by cat fan-mail, which was sent to Snoopy from all over the world after the stories in the Bucks Free Press and national newspapers.

She added: "An 87-year-old man from Liverpool sent me an oil painting of Snoopy and I have been communicating with this man in Australia who read about Snoopy in the UK Mail. He has drawn cartoons of Snoopy and sent them to me."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are sad to hear of the passing of Snoopy the cat, despite our conflict in the past, and our condolences go out to Mrs Perham.

"The postman will now be able to deliver to the house safely, knowing he will not be attacked."

Picture shows Mrs Perham with a photograph of Snoopy

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.