Tail amputee cat's happy ending

Pepper the cat has a tale to tell. The tip of eight-year-old Pepper’s tail had been amputated while he was with his original owners due to injury but, when he came into the care of Blue Cross Hertfordshire rehoming centre, the bone and tissue were visible inside. 

The wound had become infected and, with not enough skin to close it over, the Blue Cross team knew they had to amputate some more.

So Pepper was transferred to our Victoria animal hospital in central London for surgery.

“Pepper was really shy and nervous when he first arrived in the cattery,” Hollie De Almeida, Pet Welfare Assistant at Blue Cross Hertfordshire, says.

“So we were all worried how the surgery would affect his personality and his balance. But, even wearing a cone, he was much more confident when he returned to us afterwards – we think he must have been in pain. And, despite his stub of a tail – he only had about four inches left – his balance was perfect. He jumped onto the shelves in his kennel like a gymnast.”

But poor Pepper’s medical woes weren’t quite over. A few weeks after surgery, he developed diarrhoea, went off his food and became dehydrated. He had to spend a night at a local veterinary surgery on fluids.

What a tale – and a tail – of woe. Unsurprisingly, after all that, Pepper was looking for a peaceful forever home where he could relax.

‘With his calm and gentle nature, Pepper would be the perfect companion for a quiet household,’ his adoption profile on the Blue Cross website read.

And, after 79 days in Blue Cross care, this lovely boy found his fairy TAIL ending – a loving home to call his own.