A man has been forced to remove a plughole after his cat got stuck while she was bathing him.
11-month old Savi, who lives in Coventry with his owners, is now back on his feet after being treated by vet charity PDSA - but won't be going near plugholes any time soon.
Savi was being washed by his owner, Kriss Zapert, when one of his back paws got trapped.
His owner said the pet is not keen on baths and started to wriggle.
“I was bathing Savi as he was suffering from diarrhoea and got in a bit of a mess,” Kriss told Coventry Live.
“He didn’t enjoy being bathed at all so he started kicking his legs to try and get out. That is when one of his toes got stuck and he couldn’t release his paw.
“It was really scary! I’ve never been in a situation like that so I didn’t know what to do.
"I was on my own in the house too, which made things worse as there was no one to help! I tried to remove his toe but couldn’t - it was firmly stuck.
"So instead, I had to remove the plug hole from the bath itself. Then I took Savi to our local PDSA straightaway. I was so grateful to the kind staff who helped us.”
Kriss took Savi to PDSA’s Coventry Pet Hospital where PDSA Vet, Maisie Hopkins, who treated Savi, said: “It was clear that both Savi and Kriss were in distress when they got to us.
"We gave Savi a general anaesthetic so we could remove the plug hole with wire cutters, we stitched up the wound and applied a bandage. Savi’s doing really well now which is great to see.”
Kriss, 33, lives with his fiancé Joanna, 29, in Radford. “Times are hard at the moment because of the cost of living financial crisis,” he said.
“I’m out of work because I’m training towards my security guard licence which means we’ve noticed the bills going up even more.
"Not just gas and electric like you see in the papers. Everything has gone up – food, shopping, basic stuff. It’s tough. I always make sure Savi has what he needs though."
"He comes first. He is our loving, funny but also lazy cat,” Kriss laughs.
“He loves to play but he also loves to sleep! I was worried he wouldn’t be the same after what happened because it scared him but he is back to himself!
“I’m not sure what I would have done without PDSA. They were really there for us when we needed them.”
In times of hardship pets like Savi will still fall ill or become injured and need emergency care.
PDSA is appealing for donations so that the charity can continue to support owners who have nowhere else to turn by providing life-saving care to vulnerable pets. To donate, visit pdsa.org.uk.
PDSA advises that unless cats get into a messy situation like Savi, they do not need to be bathed. Cats are very hygienic and spend up to half of their day keeping themselves clean through grooming. Find out more here.
