Cat’s tail pulled from spine in attack

Waimate woman Whitiroa Henry had never seen her partner cry until they found their badly injured cat nursing a raft of injuries on Friday night.

Having missed his usual 7pm dinner, which Henry described as unusual, she and partner John Hooper hoped 8-monthold Diesel would turn up left a door open for him.

‘‘We were calling his name for an hour,’’ Henry said.

The pair woke in the middle of the night to find Diesel asleep on the couch, she said.

‘‘My partner noticed blood dripping from his ears.’’

They initially thought Diesel may have been in a cat fight, but soon realised his injuries were more serious.

‘‘I’ve never seen my partner cry before,’’ Henry said. ‘‘He just started bawling his eyes out . . . [Diesel’s] tail is absolutely limp.’’

When they took Diesel to the vet on Saturday, they realised just how badly injured he was. The vet had to remove shards of glass from his ears and said he had pulled tail syndrome. It had been ‘‘pulled completely from his spine’’, she said.

Diesel’s bladder was not functioning properly, although the vet hoped once the swelling went down in his hips, normal function would return.

Diesel was on very strong medication, and the vet was going to reassess him to determine if he had any sensation in his tail. If not, he might have to be docked, she said.

Henry was not sure who would have done this. and said When contacting police, she was told to report the incident to the council.

‘‘Unless they know who the person was that done it, there’s nothing that they can do. That sucks because I know animal cruelty is a crime,’’ she said.

Henry said Diesel was a gift from Hooper, to keep her company while she completed a sentence of home detention.

‘‘I feel so sorry for [Diesel]. He keeps me sane.

Constable Gareth Oudemans, of Waimate, said he was not aware of the incident but encouraged anyone who knew anything about the matter to come forward.