THEY say cats have nine lives – well lovable pet Peaches must have used up a few of those after losing her leg when she fell out of the engine compartment of her owner’s car.
Daisy Alison Philpott also just happened to be a veterinary nurse and after the initial horror of what she had done had passed, scooped Peaches up and took her to the vets.
There, after a night immobilised and under sedation Peaches, at the ripe old age of 14, had one of her front legs amputated.
Now Daisy is urging all car owners to check their vehicles before setting off, particularly if their car is still warm from a long journey.
“I’d taken my little boy to a hospital appointment in Worcester and got home about 2pm.
“Peaches was at the back door so I let her out and then went to pick the kids up from school.
“I’d been going along for a few minutes and heard a thud and looked in the mirror and saw a cat hop up but I wasn’t sure if I’d hit it as I hadn’t seen anything in front of me.”
When she got to Beoley First School Daisy asked one of the other mums to go back with her and see if they could find the cat.
“I tried to scoop it up but it ran off and then I realised it was my cat and I just felt so guilty.”
Diasy eventually caught Peaches and rushed her to Hopwood Veterinary Centre in Lickey Road, Rednal, where she works.
“Luckily I knew what to do – I gave her some first aid, but she’d badly broken her leg in two places and it had to be amputated the following day,” said the Church Hill mum.
“I’m asking people to please check their cars before they drive off, especially if they are still warm from a previous journey as mine was.
“I’ve started banging on the bonnet just in case a cat has decided to keep warm there.”
It’s not the first time Peaches has had a close shave with disaster. The Philpott family has had her for ten years after adopting her from the RSPCA.
However when she was nine years old she was savaged by greyhound but managed to survive.
Now the Arley Close family are giving her every bit of love and attention in the hope she’ll make the same speedy recovery from her latest adventure.
