A grandmother-of-one has claimed her cat’s entire toe was torn off after being trapped in a ‘dangerous’ B&Q tea towel holder.
Andrea Abbott, from Braintree in Essex, discovered her cat, Captain Jack Sparrow, in a pool of blood after hearing a bang.
His injuries were so severe that his bone was exposed with vets suggesting he could have been hit by a car.
Andrea Abbott, from Braintree in Essex, discovered her cat, Captain Jack Sparrow, in a pool of blood after hearing a bang
Mrs Abbott later discovered the top of the cat’s foot on a ‘sharp’ B&Q tea towel rack, which she claims sliced through his bone and ripped off the toe.
She now jokes that Captain Jack Sparrow is living up to his name.
Mrs Abbott said: ‘If you have this tea towel holder remove it. It ripped my cat’s toe off including his bone.
‘Now he’s a pirate cat. He’s only got one eye and now a peg leg.
‘When I realised what had happened I was really shocked and then I thought, if it can slice through the bone of a cat’s foot, what can it do to a kid’s finger?
‘I’ve got a granddaughter and her finger could have gotten caught in there and I’ve got a disabled daughter. It got me worried. It is just dangerous.
Mrs Abbott later discovered the top of the cat’s foot on a ‘sharp’ B&Q tea towel rack, which she claims sliced through his bone and ripped off the toe
‘I heard a noise and I thought the cat had knocked a knife down in the kitchen but I couldn’t see anything. The cat was sat on the stairs and when he moved there was a pool of blood.
‘There was blood everywhere. It was all coming from his front paw but we couldn’t see what he had done.’
After discovering the cat’s injury she rushed him to the emergency vets where he was bandaged and told to go back to the vets the next day for surgery.
Mrs Abbott was left with £1,000 vets bills after the incident
Since having the surgery, the cat now has had the cast taken off but he is still unable to run around or use the litter tray.
Ms Abbott said: ‘The next day I got the cord from my trousers caught on the tea towel holder that I bought from B&Q as I walked past and I looked and his foot was on the top.
‘It was the top part of his foot with the bone but there was nothing the vets could do with that.
‘When I complained to the B&Q they told me they didn’t sell the product but they do. It is on their website. They didn’t realise they did.
‘They said they were sorry about our cat but sorry doesn’t pay my £1,000 vet bill.
‘It is really sharp. My husband cut his finger taking it down. You would think it would fall off and give way but we had to prize it off with a knife.
‘I want them to be withdrawn or redesigned. I don’t think they’re safe. It isn’t just about the vet bill. It is how dangerous they could be.’
A spokesperson from B&Q said: ‘We take the greatest care in ensuring the products we sell are safe for their intended use, and were concerned to hear of this incident.
‘We are in touch with Ms Abbott and have requested the product is returned to us so we can investigate this further.’