Merry
Cat Left Fighting For Life After Eating Grass Seed
2 weeks ago 
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A cat used one of her nine lives after eating a grass seed which led to her needing multiple surgeries and a feeding tube.
Nine-year-old Siamese cat Merry spends most of her time exploring the countryside near her home in Paglesham, Essex – but was left fighting for her life after eating a grass seed on one of her outings.
The grass seed pierced her stomach and caused a potentially deadly infection, resulting in her being referred to Linnaeus-owned DWR Veterinary Specialists in Cambridgeshire.
Specialist in soft tissue surgery, Rachel Hattersley, operated to remove the seed and the procedure went well.
Unfortunately, Merry developed an infection, and her owners Laura and Nigel Blackaby were called to be told that their beloved cat had taken a turn for the worse.
Laura said: “After the surgery we were told Merry was stable, but she was not out of the woods as the infection had taken hold. We visited her and she did not respond to us and looked so frail. It was really upsetting.
“For just under a week she was fed through a tube in her nose and given intravenous medicines, but nothing was working to stop the infection and her veins kept collapsing. Our only hope was to have an oesophagus tube fitted so she could be fed and given the medicine.”
Merry then began to improve and vets agreed the family could nurse her at home, feeding her and giving medications several times a day through the tube.
Laura and Nigel’s daughter Eve even returned to the UK from her home in Japan for two weeks to help care for the family pet, alongside her brother Joseph, who visited daily for more than a month.
Laura said: “Merry was so good at letting us nurse her and seemed to sense we were trying to help her.
“Five weeks after she was first admitted to DWR, we took her back to have the tube removed. It was ‘make or break’ but thankfully she started to regain her appetite.
“We recently celebrated her 10th birthday, something which a few weeks before we never thought we would see.”
Now, Merry is thankfully back to her old self.
Rachel Hattersley said: “Merry was initially very ill following surgery and required medications to manage her blood pressure and a plasma transfusion. She was then fed by her dedicated owners using the feeding tube for three weeks.
“Her recovery was slow but she has thankfully made steady progress. We’re delighted this brave cat is now feeling back to herself.”
DWR Veterinary Specialists offers specialist-led care in anaesthesia and analgesia, dentistry, cardiology, dermatology, diagnostic imaging, diagnostic pathology, emergency and critical care, internal medicine, interventional radiology, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, ophthalmology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and soft tissue surgery.
For more information on DWR Veterinary Specialists, visit www.dwr.vet or search for DWR Veterinary Specialists on social media.
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