Kitten has lucky escape after biting off more than he can chew (From The Argus)

Kitten has lucky escape after biting off more than he can chew

10:41am Thursday 28th February 2013 in News By Ben James

This kitten got embroiled in a tricky tail after biting off more than he could chew.

Ravenous eight-week-old Socks thought he spotted a snack when he saw a mouse scuttling across the floor.

The ambitious moggy pounced and gobbled it down, but his dinner soon started to repeat on him and the poorly puss was left struggling to breathe.

Socks was rushed to St Anne’s Vets in Eastbourne where the mouse’s tail was found lodged in his throat.

Menna Field, from the vets, said: “I wondered whether he had swallowed something that was now stuck in his throat or whether he had ingested something toxic that was causing his airways to start closing up.

“I looked down his throat but couldn’t see anything and took him out the back to put him on oxygen.”

They gave the kitten an injection to calm him down and took an x-ray which revealed the cause of the problem.

She added: “His stomach was full of air and something dense that looked like bone.

“We had to anaesthetise him to take a second x-ray and couldn’t believe what we saw.

“There was a mouse’s tail stuck in his airways and the bones in his stomach were clearly the rest of the mouse.”

The veterinary team set about removing the tail but struggled due to the size of the kitten’s mouth.

Eventually it was vet Jim Dash who managed to pull it from his throat to the sound of cheering and high-fives.

Ms Field’s added: “He woke up from his anaesthetic and went home that evening absolutely fine and off to cause more trouble.

“It was a strange one – not something I have had to deal with before.

“He is certainly an ambitious cat, I have no idea how he managed to get the mouse down his throat.”

Socks has now made a full recovery.

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