Milo the cat stunned vets when they found THIS was causing its mystery illness
VETS were stunned when they examined a sick kitten and discovered something very strange in its X-Ray.
Milo the cat would have died if vets had not found the cause
Cute Milo the cat had baffled owners with a mystery sickness - and would have died if vets had not found the cause.
After testing for everything, vets carried out an X-Ray and found the little nine-month-old kitten had two-inch needle wedged between his shoulder blades.
The Devon Rex had a huge abscess on the back of his neck which vets removed in November - only for it to come back days later.
Fearing it was an infection, lab samples were taken, but the results showed no sign of a problem.
Owner Penelope Hinchliffe decided to take him back to the vets last week after steroids and painkillers failed to work.
The 44-year-old, of Horrabridge, Devon, said: "He would have been killed or at least paralysed.
"I came back from yoga in the afternoon and Milo was in absolute agony so I rang the out-of-hours vet."
On Sunday, confused vets X-rayed the kitten and found the needle lodged beneath his skin, between the shoulder blades and above his spine.
Vets were baffled by the cat's mystery illness
The little nine-month-old kitten had a two-inch needle wedged between his shoulder blades
He would have been killed or at least paralysed
Veterinary surgeon Tom Elwes thinks the needle had moved since it first became embedded.
He said: "Quite often foreign bodies migrate and the needle had travelled a fair distance so it could have moved more.
"We were suspicious of a foreign body but since we operated we were unsure and became concerned that he had mycobacterium, an infection from the same family as tuberculosis, indicated by repeated abscesses.
"The X-ray was a last attempt to discover the problem before referring Milo to specialists in Bristol."
How the needle became embedded is unknown, but Ms Hinchliffe says Milo could have rolled onto it while playing.
Veterinary surgeon Tom Elwes thinks the needle had moved since it first became embedded
The support worker said: "He is now absolutely brilliant and pain free and is going to make a full recovery.
"I thought I had picked a really sick cat and we toyed with the idea of taking him back but we didn't have the heart because he is just so lovely.
"I've shed a few tears since we've had him back."