Cat rescue gives update on kitten Rosa's health after operation

When Bradford Cat Watch Rescue and Sanctuary (BCWR) took Rosa into care, she was covered in a substance believed to be fibreglass resin or something similar.

The rescue has spent more than £1,000 on specialist silicone dressings alone to aid Rosa’s healing.

Rosa underwent a first-of-its-kind operation to help her regain the ability to blink.

Northcote Veterinary Surgery drew upon the expertise of world leading eye surgeons who had never seen injuries on this scale before.

*Warning: Graphic images*

Now seven months on, Rosa is set to undergo her final revision surgery and start living a normal life.

Katie Lloyd, a volunteer care coordinator at Bradford Cat Watch Rescue and Sanctuary, took Rosa into her care in early February.

She was not only dangerously malnourished and underweight, but covered in a strange resin-like substance.

Staff originally thought the substance was claggy soil.

The rescue founder said: “At that time, we thought it was mud.

Rosa, pictured after her surgery (Image: SWNS)

“The vet put her on intravenous fluid and gave her some antibiotics.

“The following day, some of the ‘mud’ started coming off, as did her fur and her skin. And that was then down to the bone on all four limbs and also on her head.”

Rosa received daily treatment over the course of nine weeks, where veterinary nurses regularly replaced the dressings on her injured legs.

Thanks to the vets’ incredible surgical feat, Rosa was able to close her eyes for the first time again after spending more than a month in agony.

Katie said: “It’s combined various theories and methods, and it’s been very successful. She can now blink!”

Rosa whilst she was recovering from surgery (Image: SWNS)

Rosa is still on her journey to recovery, but it is hoped the cat will return to full fitness over the next few months.

The scale of cat cruelty and neglect in Bradford hit crisis levels many years ago, according to rescues. 

Earlier in July, a six-week-old kitten died after being trapped inside a sellotaped box and dumped in a lake.

It was described as “possibly the worst rescue situation in the history of Bradford Cat Watch Rescue and Sanctuary”. 

Another kitten was found at the side of the same lake soaking wet and bleeding.

Between 2016 and 2022, the RSPCA received reports of 16,212 incidents of deliberate cruelty towards cats in West Yorkshire.

Abandonments, poisonings, shootings, beating, neglect and mutilation were among the complaints.