A tiny kitten left unable to blink after being coated in a “fibreglass resin” has made an incredible recovery due to pioneering surgery. Tabby Rosa was just three months old when she was found covered in the “mud-like substance” that gave her chemical burns on her legs and head.
The team at Bradford Cat Watch Rescue, who took in the poorly kitty, feared she wouldn’t survive one day after they rushed her to a vet for emergency treatment. And even though she pulled through, she was left unable to close her eyes for “several weeks” due to the way the sticky product had stripped away her skin.
Thankfully, surgeons went on to perform a never-before-tried operation that allowed Rosa, now eight months old, to blink once again. And Katie Lloyd, a volunteer care coordinator at Bradford Cat Watch Rescue, said she hoped that Rosa would go on to live a “normal life” following her treatments.
She said: “When we rushed her up to the vet, we really thought she wasn’t going to survive the night. We believe she was covered in a fibreglass resin-type substance. It caused really nasty third-degree burns right down to her bones.
“She wasn’t able to blink for several weeks. But she’s had two operations - a form of plastic surgery that’s never been done before. Rosa’s got a little bit of revision surgery, which will be done in August, and then hopefully she’ll be starting to live a normal life.”
Katie said Rosa was first brought to her sanctuary in Bradford, West Yorkshire, by a member of the public on February 10 this year. She was dangerously malnourished and underweight, but she was also covered in a strange substance, which staff originally thought was soil.
Katie said: “At that time, we thought it was mud. She was emaciated, undernourished, and very dehydrated.
“The vet put her on intravenous fluid and gave her some antibiotics. The following day, some of the ‘mud’ started coming off, as did her fur and her skin. And that was then down to the bone on all four limbs and also on her head.”
Katie said Rosa received daily treatment over the course of nine weeks, where veterinary nurses regularly replaced the dressings on her injured legs. thanks to her incredible surgery, she was able to close her eyes for the first time again after spending more than a month in agony.
Katie added: “It’s combined various theories and methods, and it’s been very successful. She can now blink!”
Rosa is still continuing her recovery, but it’s hoped she will return to full fitness over the next few months.
