Burnt Cat Receives Honey Treatment

Honey Used to Soothe Cat’s Burns

After being badly burned in a fire, a cat from Melbourne was reunited with its owners today after being treated by the local SPCA. Lightening the Cat went missing after being burned in a fire that took place at Tuamarina near Blenheim. Lightening would often walk with the school children as they came to and from Tua Marina School, but when workers and children at the school saw how badly burned the cat was, they called SPCA Marlborough manager Kaycee Polkinghorne for help.

In an article posted on Marlborough Express’s website, Polkinghorne explained that the cat’s injuries made it obvious he had either hunted or fallen asleep in a pile of debris that was set aside to be burned. "Someone set up a fire to burn it and he got caught in it," Polkinghorne said. After seeing how the condition Lightening was in, the SPCA took him for treatment while working to track down his owner. Lightening was given medication for the pain and doused in honey to keep soother the burns on his skin.

Lightening continue his treatment at the SPCA instead of at the local veterinary hospital – and for good reason. "If he was to stay at the vets, they'd charge [the owners] every day he was in there and the owners couldn't afford that. They pay for the painkillers and we treat him here for free," said Polkinghorne. Since honey has both antiseptic and soothing qualities, applying it to Lightening’s burns not only helped to ease his pain but also helped to fight off any infections that may have occurred.

Lightening’s primary caregiver at the SPCA, Kelly Church, was very impressed by his recovery. "He just looked like a ball of singed hair when we got him," she said, "he couldn't even stand up or eat properly, he'd just lie down and lick gravy off the food." The cat had been missing for almost four days when the SPCA was called, but according his owner Michelle Harris, Lightening disappearing for a while was not unusual. It was not until Harris read a description of her cat on the SPCA’s website.

"Lightning had always been a couch potato but he started wandering. He'd go off for a day and you wouldn't see him until he came home for dinner," Harris said. Harris and her husband Nigel were expecting their first child, so the news of Lightening’s accident came as a heavy blow. When the Harris’ went to the SPCA to see Lightening, he was almost unrecognizable - "We said his name and he looked at us, that's how we knew it was him," Harris said. Harris and her family were so thankful for all the SPCA did to care for Lightening she said there was no way they could do anything to thank them enough.