The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Brave cat is whisker away from winning a pet survivor award
Moggy Maximus was fighting for his life last year after losing an eye and suffering a fractured skull in road accident
A miracle Scottish cat that survived a horrific hit-and-run accident which left his jaw split in half has been shortlisted for a pet-survival award.
Maximus was fighting for his life last year after the incident left him with a fractured skull, his right eye missing and the skin on his lips torn off.
The moggy, who was five years old at the time, was rushed to the vets and was in such a bad way that euthanasia was discussed.
But his owner Sharon Trotter, 48, asked the vets to do anything they could to save him as she knew her son Cory, 11, would be devastated to lose him.
Incredibly, after extensive surgery and months of TLC, Maximus, known affectionately as Maxy, made a full and healthy recovery.
And now the brave cat, from Inverkeithing, Fife, is just a whisker away from scooping the title of PDSA Pet Survivor of the Year 2018.
In June last year, the moggy was found slumped against the front door, covered in blood and with his jaw hanging off, by a neighbour.
Vet Centre, in Dunfermline, Fife, where Maximum was taken, suspected he had been hit by a car and had somehow dragged himself home after it drove off.
Vets fitted him with a metal pin to go across the front of his face, through his nose, to keep the two halves of his fractured upper jaw together while they healed.
His lower jaw was also wired into place, but his right eye was lost.
As he was coming round from the operation, Maxy stopped breathing twice and required resuscitation.
But he and the vet team fought through everything and he stayed at the vet’s until he was eventually stable enough to go home.
Sharon said: “He needed tube feeding every four hours, and his wounds had to be cleaned and redressed every day.
“This went on for more than six weeks, but Maximus took it all in his stride.
“He always allowed us and our vet nurses to do everything we needed to – he had such a quiet resolve, it was an inspiration.”
Unless he started to eat for himself, there were still no guarantees for Maxy’s
I doubt in the rest of my career I will come across another personality quite like Maximus and it is a genuine privilege to have been involved with him...he is truly deserving of the title PDSA Pet Survivor Of The Year
future, but seven weeks after the incident, he managed to eat his first solid food.
Vet Erin Logan said: “All of our patients are special individuals to us, but occasionally one comes along who is truly inspiring.
“Maximus’s recovery left us in awe of the healing abilities of nature and just what is truly possible with resilience, character and the determination to survive – he could teach us all lessons about life in adversity.
“I doubt in the rest of my career I will come across another personality quite like Maximus and it is a genuine privilege to have been involved with both him and Sharon.
“I feel he is truly deserving of the title PDSA Pet Survivor Of The Year.”
The final four pets in the competition were selected from entries from across the UK by a judging panel, including James McVey from The Vamps, and PDSA senior vet Sean Wensley.
Sean said: “Reading these extraordinary cases makes me very proud to be part of such a skilled and dedicated profession.
“Veterinary teams save the lives of much-loved pets like these every day.
“The tragic and painful circumstances endured by these pets, along with the devotion shown by their owners, makes them all worthy contenders for the PDSA Pet Survivor title.”
The winner will be announced just before Christmas and will win a luxury pet hamper and a trophy.
Voting is open until Friday November 30 and the public can pick the winner by voting at www.pdsa.org.uk/ petsurvivor2018