Patient Profiles

Tiggy Schalbetter, written by his owner Karen Schalbetter.

Tiggy’s story is inspirational.  He was a stray living in the field behind our house for 2 years, feeding himself on rabbits and occasionally sitting and watching us when we were outside in the yard.  At that time I was very ill and completely wheelchair bound.  One day Tiggy suddenly came to me and chose to live with us and it was completely obvious then that he was special and a strong bond soon developed between us.  We also discovered that Tiggy had been shot several times with an air rifle.

With time my condition began to improve and I gradually started to walk again, everyone said it was down to Tiggy!! Unfortunately, Tiggy had a stroke and suffered spinal damage, his rear end was completely paralysed and Natalie, our vet referred us to the neurologist Elsa at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) near Newmarket.   Tiggy had many test, including an MRI scan, staying in hospital for 3 weeks.  We visited him every day: we became part of the furniture!!

Elsa initially told us that there may be a possibility of Tiggy walking again, she gave us hope and I learnt how to express his bladder 3 times a day and how to give him physiotherapy to help his muscles: there was no way that we were going to give up on him as he had helped me so much through my illness.  We used a walking harness twice a day to help his muscles but unfortunately with time it became apparent that he wasn’t going to walk again, so we had a feline ‘wheelchair’ made to measure so he could get around by himself.

I clearly remember the day we took Tiggy home, we were so excited. Tiggy loved his garden and would want to be outside in all weather, when it was dark he would ask to go outside so he could hunt, quite unbelievable for a disabled cat!

We visited the AHT every 6 months for check ups, alongside regular checks at Oundle to ensure Tiggy was OK; we all shared the aim to give him a good quality of life. 

Tiggy was disabled for 3 1/2 years but as far as Tiggy was concerned he was a normal, healthy cat: he would play, hunt for mice, wash and eat a lot!  He was never depressed and would ‘purr’ during his physio sessions.  We took him on holiday with us to Spain every year with the car: everywhere we went Tiggy went with us as I had to express his bladder.  He just took everything in his stride, never complained and with the constant support we received from all the vets we managed to give him the best possible life despite his disability.

However, 4 months ago Tiggys face became paralysed.  Once again he was referred to Elsa, who did an MRI scan and found a tumor affecting his face and eye….. unfortunately there was no treatment.   Tiggy showed his usual courage and determination throughout this time.  However, we very sadly had to have Tiggy put to sleep on the 2^nd October 2011 whilst we were on holiday in Spain. 

The loss of Tiggy has left a large hole in our lives but we take comfort in knowing that we did everything possible for him and the fact that so many other people also thought he was such an amazing cat.  When we think of Tiggy we don’t remember him as a ‘disabled cat’ as his personality was so much bigger than his disability.

 Booie Cloke: Log burners and pets (written by his owner)

My kitten, Booie, was a liability from the day the little lad arrived. He was very small for six weeks and it was instant love and he grew and thrived into a very naughty young man.  Last September, when he was almost a year old, the evenings grew colder and we decided to light the log burner. As it was the first light up of the season (and the last) we had not got the child  (and pet) proof fire guard out.  Booie decided to run down the stairs and into living room at his usual 200 mph and jumped straight onto the log burner, I couldn’t believe my eyes!! I eventually found him curled up in a ball under a table, I checked is feet and my stomach turned over: the skin was peeling off his beautiful pink pads. I immediately telephoned the out of hours number and met the lovely Monique at the surgery.  Thats when the fun started!

Have you ever tried to put your cats' feet in water?  I don’t know what was wetter, Booie's feet or me! At this point I certainly needed a laugh and I got one.   Poor Booie had to stay hospitalised as a patient for the week, the girls were fantastic with him, he had to have his dressings changed twice a day, and he just lay there and let the vets and nurses do it, he was such a good boy. I visited every day and learned how to dress his feet so he could come home for the weekend. Armed with medication, dressings and amazing manuka honey (this speeds up the healing process) we headed home.  He developed a bad habit of flicking his feet so hard the bandages would fly off, which kept us in stitches!

The hardest part was keeping him entertained and of course happy, he couldn’t walk with all four feet bandaged up, so I would have to put him on the litter tray, clean him up if he tried when I wasn’t around and missed it. He had to have his face and bottom washed for him and lots of brushing to keep his coat looking good. It was hard work and I didn’t want to leave him, I even slept down stairs in case he needed help in the night.

After two long weeks of visiting Monique every other day the bandages started to come off one by one, I don’t know who was happiest!

We are almost a year on and he still shakes his feet particularly in the litter tray and thumps on the side, his feet have healed beautiful and he has had no lasting effect from his trauma all thanks to the lovely Monique and the girls.  And yes he is still naughty but he doesn’t go near the log burner: we may get brave and light it this winter.

I may joke about it, but he did have serious burns to all pads and I would like to highlight the importance of a fireguard, not just for young inquisitive pets, all pets can be at risk from open fires/log burners.