This Christmas our Animal Welfare Officers are working hard to keep people and their pets together. Here are just some of the animals that we have been helping this winter.

Keeping Oscar and his owner together

Oscar is one of the lucky animals we’ve been able to help this year and, thanks to our Animal Welfare team, he is very happy to be spending another Christmas with his loving owner this year.

When we first met Oscar he had a large mass on his chest but tests revealed it was a lipoma (a fatty lump) and wasn’t causing him any harm. However, over the last few months the mass grew in size rapidly and it began to restrict his movements and affect his quality of life. His vulnerable owner was not able to bring Oscar to a vet so we collected him and brought him to Mayhew where we carried out the surgery free of charge. After six days in our care we returned him to his adoring owner and Oscar was delighted to be back home with her.

Abandoned Ernie

Poor Ernie, was reported to our Animal Welfare team by a member of the public who had spotted him wandering alone with a bad limp. He was in a terrible state and suffering from a very nasty and painful bite on his foot. Unfortunately, the wound had developed into an abscess which caused his whole leg to become swollen.

Our Animal Welfare Officers rushed Ernie to our Vet Clinic where the vets treated the abscess; however, blood tests revealed he was also positive for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV+). Ernie wasn’t microchipped and was clearly abandoned by his previous owners. Scared and alone on the streets, Ernie had to fend for himself and had probably been fighting with other cats, which is also the most likely cause of his FIV.

After some time in our care, lovable and friendly Ernie has recovered from his injuries and has now found his forever family, just in time for Christmas.

It was touch and go for Cardi 

Cardi was found in a desperate state in Kabul, Afghanistan recently with what appeared to be a massive hernia or tumour in her abdomen. The little pup was brought to Afghan Stray Animal League’s facility in the city and her prognosis seemed very poor. They called Mayhew Afghanistan Country Director, Dr Mohammadzai DVM, who discovered the lump was in fact a cyst. The very long and complicated surgery to remove the cyst from Cardi’s abdomen was successful and she is now recovering well.

Cardi is one of the lucky dogs in Kabul: she has now made a full recovery and has been adopted by a US soldier. We are delighted to report that she is happily settled in her new home, just in time for Christmas.

Keeping families together

We understand how important it is for pets to be with their beloved families at Christmas time. We work tirelessly to ensure vulnerable people such as the elderly are able to enjoy this time of year in the company of their pets. But please spare a thought for the less fortunate dogs and cats who will spend Christmas without any family or friends this festive season, heartbroken and lonely.

If you could spare a little extra amidst your Christmas shopping, you could help even more animals like Oscar, Ernie and Cardi feel safe and loved this festive season.