A tiny kitten, suffering from an unusual and life-threatening heart condition is looking forward to a happy, healthy future after a charity performed heart surgery to save his life.

At only four-months-old, ‘Cloudy’, was found helplessly roaming the streets and taken into the care of leading animal charity, The Blue Cross, in Bromsgrove. During a routine check, local vets discovered a noisy heart murmur indicating a serious and rare condition that meant he could be on the brink of a sad and early death.

Cloudy was immediately transferred to the charity’s animal hospital in Victoria, London for further investigation. Ultrasound and x-ray examinations revealed that Cloudy’s heart hadn’t formed properly when he was born. Urgent, delicate surgery was needed to prevent inevitable heart failure.

Young Shin, Blue Cross veterinary surgeon explained:“It’s very rare to see this condition in a cat and Cloudy was the first one we have performed this operation on, although we have done similar procedures with dogs in the past.

“Basically, the plumbing of Cloudy’s heart was all wrong. Instead of blood being pumped around his body, as it should have been, some was being pumped back into his heart and lungs. As a growing young cat this would soon lead to heart failure so he would not have reached adulthood without the operation.”

Before the operation, the extra blood pumping around Cloudy’s heart meant that it was already twice the size it should be and she hadn’t grown to the usual size of cats her age. But happily the surgery was a success and Cloudy is expected to make a full recovery.

Neil Edwards, Blue Cross centre manager at Bromsgrove said: “It’s amazing how much this little kitten has been through in his young life, he’s a real survivor.We are grateful that our local vets spotted Cloudy’s serious condition so that we could get him the urgent treatment he needed to save his life. Thankfully he will soon be well enough to come back to the centre so that we can find him the happy ending he deserves.”

The surgery to save Cloudy’s life would have cost around £2,000 at a private vet, but thankfully The Blue Cross had the facilities and expertise to carry out the procedure.

Funded entirely by public donations, the charity undertakes thousands of life-saving operations at its animal hospitals every year and provides subsidised veterinary treatment for pets whose owners cannot afford a private vet.

To find out more or make a donation, visit www.bluecross.org.uk. Follow The Blue Cross on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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