Briar House Veterinary Practice has given an update on the progress of two-year-old cat Oreo who was callously shot in Margate this week.
Owner Jodie Gower she let Oreo out from her Brockley Road home on Sunday while she was cooking dinner but by Tuesday he still had not returned.
The puss was found in an alleyway by Grotto Road and looked like he had been run over and couldn’t move his legs.
He was taken to Thanet Vets who gave Oreo pain relief. The next day Jodie took him to Briar House and an X ray revealed the young cat had been shot twice.
One pellet was lodged in his spine causing him to be unable to urinate or move his back legs.
Oreo belongs to Jodie’s nine-year-old son Elliott. Jodie said: “Oreo sleeps on his pillow every night.”
She added: “I do not know how someone could be so evil to shoot a cat. He is the loveliest cat. If I manage to get him home he isn’t going out again and I’ll even move house because I don’t want to live somewhere where people think it is ok to shoot a cat.”
A swell of support from the community raised £4000 for Oreo to undergo surgery.
Briar House has now issued an update, in agreement with Jodie, to raise awareness.
The veterinary practice says: “We wouldn’t normally post about a patient who is sadly so critically ill but as this horrible event happened locally, between us and Oreo’s owners we have decided that awareness needs to be raised to all our pet owners out there
“Oreo was brought to us on Wednesday morning unable to use his back legs. We quickly needed to work out what was going on so immediately ran blood tests, took some X-rays and sadly found that Oreo had been shot.
“The X-rays showed a pellet in his shoulder and one in his spine.
“Unfortunately, the spinal one had damaged the spinal chord between the T4 and T5 vertebrae (along the top of the rib cage) as it was compressed by a large haematoma. Due to the injury, Oreo lost the function of his back end paralysing his hind limbs and compromising his ability to pass urine.
“Over the past few days, we have been working super hard on Oreo – firstly to stabilise him, undertaking a late night surgery to remove the bullet and clear the haematoma and now a prolonged period of intensive nursing to aid his recovery.”
The vet surgery says there is some improvement in Oreo’s back legs but severe neurological deficits are still present and he is still unable to pass urine.
They add: “Sadly, due to the extent of neurological damage, we aren’t expecting him to totally recover from this injury but we are working really hard to give him all the treatment he needs to have the best chance to improve and regain an acceptable quality of life.”
Lead Vet Enrico Cecchetti said: “Oreo’s surgery was very delicate but successful. He is now receiving all the treatment he needs to have the best chance to improve but it is a long and difficult path. Only time will tell us how permanent the damage is.”
Oreo is receiving pain relief, antibiotics, intravenous fluids, physiotherapy and laser therapy in the hope that his hind quarter function and urination will improve.
Briar House adds: “Only time will tell what Oreo’s future has in store but if Oreo’s zest for giving it his all, our veterinary interventions, his amazing owners who are signing up to do everything they can and of course the whole community who has been touched by Oreo’s story, he certainly has everything he needs to fight this hard battle.”
Jodie said: “A massive thank you to everyone., I honestly can’t believe what Briar House is doing to try and give Oreo the best possible outcome. No thanks will ever be enough.”
A police spokesperson said: “Kent Police was contacted at 12.15pm on Wednesday 22 February 2023 following a report a cat had been found with injuries in the Brockley Road area of Margate.
“Initial enquiries are under way to determine how the cat came by the injuries and whether any criminal offences have been committed.”
