A curious County Durham kitten used one of his nine lives when he ate the netting from his owner’s Christmas roast beef.
Six-month-old Bear was rushed to the vets after a blockage in his intestines caused from netting around the roast beef joint. He had eaten it when helping himself to Christmas dinner leftovers at the Darlington home of his owner Josh Simpson on Boxing Day 2023.
Originally, Bear was treated at his local vet but it became apparent more needed to be done. He was treated by a PDSA vet in Middlesbrough, where an x-ray confirmed the blockage in his intestine.
The string from the roast beef had caused a “cheesewire effect”, with the tight string pulling all the way through the soft tissue of Bear’s intestines, causing them to “concertina”, damaging and blocking them. With this considered the most dangerous kind of blockage, Bear underwent emergency surgery.
Following a five-hour operation, vet Gabrielle Fish said: “Thankfully, we were able to remove all the string but we also had to remove two inches of Bear’s intestines that were too damaged to be repaired.”
(Image: PDSA)
Josh said: “When the vets showed us what they’d pulled out of Bear I immediately recognised it – the netting off the roast beef we’d had on Christmas Day.
“In the chaos of the day we must’ve left it out, and he’d been attracted by the smell. We felt awful, so now we’re careful to put everything away immediately and never leave food or leftovers out.”
Bear has since made a full recovery, and his owner will be making sure that he sticks to cat food this Christmas. Josh, 32, used the PDSA veterinary service as he was unemployed at the time and could not afford Bear’s treatment.
He added: “This was our first time using PDSA and the treatment was outstanding. I was out of work for a few months when this happened, and I just couldn’t have afforded the life-saving operation he needed.
“I want to say a huge thank you to PDSA for all their help and support – without the incredible team at Middlesbrough Pet Hospital, we wouldn’t have Bear with us for his second Christmas.”
(Image: PDSA)
Across the UK, it is expected that the PDSA will see around 23,000 pets over the two-week Christmas period. The charity is appealing for the public’s help to support free or low-cost treatment. For more information, visit the save a star page on the PDSA website.
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View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/cat-survives-pdsa-operation-intestine-30645032
