We are delighted to announce the Winner of Maven Vets’ Pet of the Year 2018, Kitty!
Kitty was nominated as the Pet of the Month in December 2018 by our clinic team due to her brave battle with lymphoma, a type of cancer. You can read about her full nomination story in our Pet of the Month blog.
Maven’s Pet of the Year competition is voted for by our clients and followers of our Facebook page. Each of the 12 pets who have won the Pet of the Month in the year are eligible for entry. This year, Kitty won with a landslide.
Her owners were delighted to hear the news. This is what they had to say:
Can you tell us a bit about Kitty’s illness and why she was nominated for Pet of the Year?
2018 was a challenging year for Kitty with repeated ear infections and a scare for us where she presented with a head tilt and wobbly walking. After a CT scan, unfortunately she was diagnosed with nasal lymphoma which had been affecting the normal drainage of fluid around her ears and nose. We made the difficult decision to treat Kitty using chemotherapy; initially all seemed to be going well but Kitty was unlucky and started experiencing the nastier side effects of chemo. She was hospitalised on a number of occasions, requiring intravenous antibiotics and missing out on her much loved home comforts. Throughout all of this she kept her loving personality and was a model patient even showing some affection towards the Maven Team despite being very unwell.
Since Kitty found her forever home with us four years ago, she unfortunately hasn’t been in the best of health. Her first present to us days after joining the family was an emergency visit to Maven as she came in with a tooth hanging out and had to have both lower canine teeth removed due to infection. Not long after that she was diagnosed with Feline Asthma having had repeated coughing fits for a number of weeks she finally took well to having her twice daily inhaler followed by some treats.
What makes Kitty special to you and why do you think she deserved to win?
Having always grown up with cats, I can confidently say that Kitty is not like any other cat I’ve ever known. She is the most caring and emotionally sensitive cat with a funny quirk of always finding an opportunity to flip upside down in order to have her belly rubbed! And she doesn’t bite or scratch like other cats which is always a bonus! She’s one of the family, adores her food, is a very big fan of Christmas and is very particular about sleeping on our pillows whilst we try to get into bed! Simply she deserved to win as she has fought through so much!
What does it mean to you that Kitty has won the award?
It means the world to us that Kitty has won Pet of the Year. It’s a fitting tribute to her life considering all the struggles she has been through in the past few years and we are not only proud to have an award winner in the family, but proud to show Kitty off as she’s our perfect pet.
