Collar Melts, Burns Cat
Megatron the six-year-old cat was wearing her new £3.19 reflective collar when it fused to its fur as soaring temperatures baked Britain. The red band, which had a plastic clip, was bought by her owner Kim Mills, 28, from a pet store in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Just days after putting it on Megatron, she noticed her pet seemed uncomfortable. Kim said: ‘When we took the collar off there was fur and skin fused to it, and a horrible burn wound on my cat’s neck. ‘At first I thought somebody had tampered with it. ‘We’re careful about Megatron but obviously all cats like lying in the sun. We never dreamt this could happen.’
Kim took Megatron to the vet, where the burnt skin was cleaned and antibiotics were prescribed, but the total bill for the trip reached more than £78. The vet flagged up the possibility that the burn on Megatron’s neck could be to do with a chemical reaction between flea treatment ingredients and the collar. ‘The vet asked me when the flea treatment was applied, but it was in the middle of June – so I think that reason is ridiculous,’ said Kim. She contacted the collar’s manufacturers Ancol to complain, but was also told that a Spot On flea treatment she applied to the cat’s neck had reacted with their product, rather than it melted because of the hot weather.
Their website warns: ‘Please remove the collar when using liquid flea treatments to prevent reactions between the treatment and the materials of the collar.’ But Kim added: ‘I find it hard to believe that the reaction would be so strong, after all that time to physically melt the plastic and cause it to fuse to my cat’s fur and skin.’ Kim is convinced the plastic clip had melted due to the heatwave and believes there should be a manufacturer’s warning about the potential dangers. A director of the family-run firm Ancol confirmed that they had seen the photo and were waiting for the collar to be sent back to them for testing, but could not comment until it arrived.
Blog post shared from Metro. Written by Joe Roberts.