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Big cat's paw amputated after two-month adventure

Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Kevin Murphy A Savannah cat lying down in a cage on a black towel with a bandage round its leg. The animal has brown fur with dark spots and markings across its body and a cone around its head.Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy said the cat was discovered with little metal fragments in its paw

An escaped big cat that was captured after two months on the loose has had its paw amputated.

The Savannah cat was found near a couple's back garden in Bramerton, Norfolk, about five miles (8km) away from home after it broke free from its owner in May.

The cat, who is called Blaze, was discovered with a wound on its chest and a broken paw, which has since been amputated after it was taken to Taverham Vets.

Kevin Murphy, from Norfolk Wildlife Rescue, said: "It's a beautiful cat it's just a shame that something's happened to it. Now it's had its paw amputated which is sad."

Kevin Murphy A Savannah cat, with brown fur and dark spots with pointy ears is in a cement plant pot which is in a back garden. It is laying down in the pot with its head to the right. The picture has been taken on a sunny day. Kevin Murphy
Blaze was spotted in a plant pot in a woman's back garden

The cat was first spotted in a field between the A146 Loddon Road and Framingham Lane on 23 June.

When speaking to Kayleigh Poacher on BBC Radio Norfolk, Murphy said one of the challenges of the rescue was the animal was "cage shy" after escaping once last year.

Kevin Murphy A Savannah cat with brown fur and black spots sitting on its paws inside a cage. It has pointed ears. Kevin Murphy
Murphy said the cat was "cage shy" after it had escaped once last year

Murphy said he was called to a couple's garden after the cat was spotted in a plant pot, however, by the time he arrived it had gone.

After speaking to a neighbour down the road, the cat was spotted again by a "stroke of luck", Murphy added.

He said: "It was a bit skinny... I did find that it did have a broken paw.

"When the cat went to the vet it discovered it had little [metal] fragments in the paw and a chest wound."

The animal's paw was "just hanging", Murphy said, and he could tell it was not a sprain or torn ligament.

Yet aside from those injuries, he said the cat was "fine in every other respect".

Murphy added that receiving so many calls from people spotting the cat "worked fabulously" as a way to find Blaze before the injuries got worse.

The escaped big cat is captured in a plant pot in a back garden

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