Abused cat puts his ghost of Christmas past behind him

Helpless and in unimaginable pain, little Rupert was found all alone on the streets in the grip of winter.

The poor soul had a broken jaw and blood clots in his mouth – injuries that vets believe were caused by being kicked in the face.

What he might have been through in his first few months in the world doesn’t bear thinking about.

Thankfully, Rupert was found by staff of the restaurant he was cruelly dumped outside of in Newport, south Wales, and they managed to get him to a nearby vet just in time.

As well as his horrific injuries, he was also terribly skinny and in a generally bad condition.

Unable to eat properly, the three-month-old had to be fed through a tube before the team at the Fields Veterinary Group performed surgery to wire his jaw back in place.

He spent his first Christmas in foster care, recovering from the operation and the trauma that had led him there.

Then once he was fit and healthy, the Blue Cross rehoming unit in Newport set about finding him a loving home – and it wasn’t long before Irene Duncan and her husband Robert snapped him up.

Now triple in size and unrecognisable from the sad, abused kitten he once was, Rupert is looking forward to his second Christmas in a warm, loving home, where he loves to tear around with feline friends Nala, Binky and Molly.

And when he’s not charging about having fun, he can be found curled up on the sofa with his adoring owners watching television.

Irene, who rehomed Rupert in January 2017, said: “I had lost one of my cats due to ill health at the age of 20 and I heard about Rupert, so we went to have a look and it was love at first sight. 

“He was such a poor little soul, so battered and so tiny. How could someone have done that to a little kitten?”

Nobody could have blamed Rupert had he been wary of humans after everything he had been through, but Irene said that he wasted no time settling in and was soon ready to curl up on her lap for cuddles.

“Rupert fitted right in straight away. He is such a big softy, everyone loves him,” she said.

“He’ll sit on your lap and just lie on his back and let you tickle his tummy, and just purrs and purrs. There’s no in between with him, he’s either relaxing or charging around like a mini tornado. He has so much energy.”

“He had such a hard start in life for a tiny little thing, so he deserves all the good stuff we can give him. I just love spoiling him, he’s a lovely cat and we wouldn’t be without him,” added Irene.

Hannah Wiltshire, Blue Cross rehoming manager at Newport, said: “The first 24 hours were touch and go for Rupert. But once he had recovered, he soon became alert and inquisitive.

“It’s so great to see him happy in his new home and enjoying all the home comforts he needs after the ordeal he went through.”