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Pet owner full of praise for vet's 'never give up' attitude
A cat injured in a freak accident that left her abdomen ripped open was saved by the ‘never give up’ attitude of emergency vets.
Owner Samantha Baldry feared for her kitten Nala when she saw the horrendous injury.
But she has hailed vets and vet nurses at our Coventry clinic for refusing to accept nothing could be done.
“They said they wanted to do whatever they could and just give her a chance,” said Samantha. “They are absolute miracle workers and will never know what they’ve done in saving our kitten.”
Four-month-old Nala had the mystery accident in the garden of the cat-loving Coventry family who have two other cats and also foster for the RSPCA.
“She was out on the Saturday night because we were working in the house,” said Samantha. “We have absolutely no idea how it happened or what she impaled herself on.
“But when she came in the next morning, her insides were hanging out of her abdomen. We were terrified as it was the most horrific and distressing sight.
“Weirdly there was no bleeding, but we knew there was no time to waste, so we just called Vets Now and jumped straight in the car.
“She was flaking out on the way and I was pushing her chest, just trying to keep her alive.”
Covid restrictions meant that Samantha was unable to go into the clinic with Nala. And a tense few minutes passed before the vet called after her initial diagnosis to say she was keen to operate as she wanted to give Nala a fighting chance of living.
“I think a lot of vets would have said just to put her to sleep considering the damage to her and the size of the operation,” said Samantha. “But right from the start the team at Vets Now wanted to try.”
Sam Lilley, who is a registered vet nurse at Vets Now Coventry and was on duty the night Nala was brought in, said she’s over the moon to hear she is on the road to recovery.
She explained: “Nala was in a critical condition when she was rushed in but she was clearly fighting hard to stay alive and we wanted to do everything we possibly could to help her.
“It was touch and go at times but the surgery was a success and, after one-to-one monitoring from our team overnight, she was much brighter the following morning.”
As soon as the marathon three-hour procedure was over, our vet, Jenny Hope, called to give Samantha the news she’d been longing to hear.
“Jenny told us Nala was still coming round after the surgery as she didn’t want us waiting any longer than necessary,” said Samantha.
“She said that Nala wasn’t out of the woods yet as she still had a long recovery ahead, but that the procedure had gone well and it was up to her now.”
Nala was handed back over to Samantha’s daytime vets the next morning and she was able to collect her later that day.
“Seeing her was the biggest relief ever,” said Samantha.
After a few worrying ups and downs, Nala regained her strength and is now back to her old self.
“It was all very emotional,” adds Samantha. “We’re just grateful Vets Now were there and we owe it all to Jenny and her team. She’s a remarkable vet and we were so lucky it’s her hands our kitten fell into.”
The Vets Now clinic in Coventry is one of a nationwide chain of more than 60 hospitals and clinics open seven days a week for out-of-hours pet emergencies.
Vets Now has also recently launched an online video consultation service to make professional veterinary advice more easily available.
While the service is not suitable for life-threatening emergencies like Nala’s, their experienced vets are available to discuss any worries or concerns pet owners might have.
If a pet needs to be treated at Vets Now, pet owners are refunded the online consultation fee.