A stray, underweight cat in extreme pain has undergone an astonishing transformation and welcomed in the new year with a new life, thanks to our vets and a generous stranger who refused to give up on her.
Nathan Chambers was out running near Castle Ashby when he came across a cat in a very sorry state, so he took her to see us.
We diagnosed Mané, as she has now been named by her new owner, a die-hard Liverpool FC fan, with bilateral lower lid entropion, which is where the eyelids roll inwards, meaning with every blink her eyelashes were scraping the surface of the cornea.
As well as being in excruciating pain with her eyes, she was also underweight and bedraggled.
We set about trying to find her owners but were met with dead ends – but kind-hearted Nathan, who was in regular contact with us throughout Mané’s stay, offered to pay for her operation.
Nathan said: “I was on a long distance run and I was close to collapsing. For some reason I ran up a steep incline and saw the sun shining in a field in front of me and thought what a beautiful photo it would make.
“I took the picture and turned around to see a cat leaning up against a tree.
“She was on the soaking wet ground as there had been a downpour earlier. She was so skinny, and I could already see there was something very wrong with her eyes. But she was straining her neck to look up and catch some rays of sunshine on her fur, and from that moment I felt I was meant to find her.
“I stayed in touch with Spinney Vets throughout Mané’s stay there and didn’t hesitate in offering to pay for her surgery. I told them from the moment I dropped her off that if she didn’t have an owner, I wanted to take her home with me.
“When they told me she was mine, I felt at peace, to be honest, as I had been so anxious. It was just the best news.
“There has been a huge transformation in her. She has put on weight, her coat is brilliant, and her eyes are now healed. We’re thrilled with how much she’s flourished. She looks like a different cat.
“All my family use Spinney Vets for their animals as they are a skilled and hugely caring bunch of people, and they have shown this once more with how they took care of Mané.”
Our vet Rachel Chan said: “We gave her pain relief and medicated her eyes, which soon started to look better.
“After seven days no owner had been traced, but then something amazing happened. Nathan, who had been in constant contact with us since bringing Mané in and already expressed how much he wanted to become her new owner, said he wanted to pay for the treatment.
“After she had recovered, he was able to take her with him to start her new life.
“Mané is a beautiful cat and we are delighted she has a new home to go to. Nathan has done a wonderful thing.”
