SWLShit – by Tom Cann and Faye Mayern
A cat has undergone emergency surgery costing almost £16k after being involved in a hit and run which has left him with brain damage.
Steve the three-year-old cat was hit in London Road in Ipswich, Suffolk, on February 6 and suffered multiple skull fractures, a broken jaw and lost his right eye.
His owners, Edward Groomsbirdge, 38, and Corrina, 35, were alerted when a couple, who had witnessed the collision, rushed Steve to the emergency vets.
Steve, who was nicknamed by the vets as ‘The Tank’ due to his resilience, has been through emergency treatment including multiple surgeries.
Mr and Mrs Groomsbridge’s insurance will cover £7k for treatment and up to £2k for therapies afterwards but they have had to take out a loan for the rest.
Mrs Groombridge, a secondary school teacher, said: “They weren’t hopeful he was going to make it through the night.
“At that point he wasn’t breathing properly, had bruises all the inside of his mouth, his brain had swelling, he had lost vision.
“They said they would ring if anything happened and it got to the morning and they said he was still alive and it was such a good feeling.
“We took him to see a specialist in Cambridge and it was the scariest hour drive of our lives with Steve in his pet carrier because he looked like he had gone 20 rounds with Mike Tyson.
“He was bleeding, his jaw was dislocated and I called his name and he looked straight at me and it just relaxed us.”
The couple rescued Steve and his sister Susan from that Cats Protection when they were 11-week-old kittens.
Sadly Susan died after being hit by a car on the same road last year.
The couple kept the cats in at night and after losing Susan, considering making Steve an indoor cat.
However Mrs Groomsbridge said they thought it would be unfair as he didn’t roam far.
Due to the severity of his treatment and surgeries, the total cost so far has come to just under £16,000, with his discharge invoice from the specialist vets being seven pages long.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help with medical bills, which raised more than £1,000 within hours.
Mrs Groombridge said: “It blew up. We weren’t expecting it.
“We’ve had so much help and it has been such a relief on the financial strain.
“We are so grateful for the strangers that have reached out to donate, fri of fri, anyone, it just warms our hearts that for every horrible person that could hit an animal and drive off, there are good people and it does restore your faith in humanity.”
Steve is now back at home with his owners in Ipswich and recovering having regained vision in his left eye.
Mrs Groomsbridge added: “He should make as a good recovery and still lead a comfortable life, as an indoor cat.
“Due to the brain damage they can’t ever really determine the extent of any long lasting affects, which could mean that Steve is just a little slower at processing things.
“We won’t really be able to tell for several months as his recovery journey is likely to take us to the summer with some much needed physiotherapy on the cards to help with strengthening his mobility from his spinal bruising.
“Needless to say Steve will enjoy the rest of his life as an indoor cat, but we are going to make sure he has the most glamorous life possible with my dad already designing a luxury catio so Steve can have most of the garden to his domain.”
Steve has a final surgery to undergo in six weeks’ time to remove the wire fixing his jaw back into place, as well as a few teeth extractions.
